Land Registration Lecture Notes Condensation 3 pots: (i) AP priorities and overriding interests, (iii) alteration/indemnity/rectification Policy of the LRA 2002 A land registration system allows for availability of information regarding property: this helps to eliminate uncertainty over property rights or obligations that may encumber the property. The consequences of absence of public records are overwhelming transaction costs, risking that ownership becomes untraceable. Registration of title v title by registration: In a system of registration of title, the register is simply a record of the property rights as established under the general law of property. This is not the system we have in UK law. In a system of pure registration of title, conveyancing may become quicker, but it is not more secure - the rules of common law remain applicable A system of title by registration is one where ownership is derived from the register itself, so that all rules of general property law are irrelevant. The LRA 2002 has been described as a system of title by registration, but it does not in practice fulfil the ideals of that model. Theodore Ruoff's (19757) theorisation of what a register based on title by registration should aim for was based on three principles. Note this is not reflective of our current system. First, the mirror principle: the register is a mirror which reflects accurately and completely the current facts that are material to title. Second, the curtain principle: the register is the sole source of information for proposing purchasers, who need not and, indeed, must not concern themselves with trusts/equities which lie behind the curtain. Third, the insurance principle: the register is deemed to give an absolutely correct reflection of title but if, through human frailty, a flaw appears, anyone who suffers loss must be put in the same position, so far as money can do it, as if the reflection were a true one. The general rules of property law would have no scope for operation on such a system, beyond identification of a flaw on the register for the purpose of insurance. The needs of clarity and certainty are in tension with the concepts of flexibility and fairness. Cooke (2003): Registration is immensely good for those whose rights are registered. It is an instrument of practical security, making land more marketable. Yet the perfect register, as soon as it is translated into the reality of a human legal system, is seen to have an appalling potential for oppression. It is simply not possible for all dealings with land to be carried out on the register. There will always be people who, because of ignorance, poverty, or discrimination, cannot use a register of title and who therefore cannot acquire rights, or are deprived of those they hold. A fair system must carefully balance the rights of off-register parties recognised by general property law with the economic benefits of a system reliably protecting on- register dealings. LR should work symbiotically with general rules of property law, identifying the circumstances in which