Part 7ATitle by possession to land under this Act

Part 7A—Title by possession to land under this Act 80A—Application for certificate based on possession A person who would have obtained a title by possession to any land which is subject to this Act, if that land had not been subject to this Act, may apply to the Registrar‑General for the issue to him of a certificate of title to that land. 80B—Application requirements (1) An application under section 80A— (a) must be in the appropriate form; and (b) must contain a declaration signed by the applicant declaring that all the statements in it are true. (2) The applicant must, if required to do so by the Registrar‑General, provide the Registrar‑General with a plan of survey of the land. 80C—Application how dealt with (1) The Registrar-General shall refer each application to a legal practitioner, who shall examine it and report upon it to the Registrar-General. (2) The Registrar-General may thereupon in his discretion reject the application as regards the whole or any part of the land to which it relates, or proceed as hereinafter provided. 80D—Requisitions The Registrar-General may— (a) require an applicant to furnish him with any information or documents relating to his application; (b) notwithstanding any direction previously given by him as to the application, reject it altogether or in part if the applicant fails to comply within a reasonable time with any requisition made under this section. 80E—Notice of application (1) If an application is not wholly rejected by the Registrar-General, the Registrar‑General must cause a notice of the application in the appropriate form— (a) to be published once at least in a newspaper circulating in the neighbourhood of the land, and, if the Registrar‑General thinks necessary, in any other newspaper; and (b) to be given to any person who in the Registrar-General's opinion has or may have any estate or interest in the land; and (c) to be published in any other way or given to any other persons. (2) The notice shall fix a time, not less than 21 days nor more than 12 months from the first publication of the notice in a newspaper under subsection (1) of this section, at or after the expiration of which the Registrar-General may, unless a caveat is lodged, grant the application altogether or in part. 80F—Caveats (1) A person claiming an estate or interest in the land to which an application under this Part relates, may at any time before the application is granted, lodge a caveat with the Registrar-General forbidding the granting of the application. (2) A caveat under this section— (a) shall state the nature of the estate or interest claimed by the person lodging it and shall give an address at which notices and proceedings relating to the caveat may be served; (b) need not be in any particular form but shall be accepted by the Registrar‑General if it gives reasonable notice of the claim of the caveator. (3) If the Registrar-General is satisfied that the caveator is the registered proprietor of the land to which the application relates, or has an estate or interest in that land derived under or through the registered proprietor, he shall refuse the application: Provided that the Registrar-General shall not refuse an application solely on the ground that a person is entitled to an easement in or over the said land, but if a person is so entitled the Registrar-General may include in any certificate of title issued to the applicant a statement that the land is subject to the easement. (4) If the Registrar-General is not satisfied that the caveator is the registered proprietor of the land or has an estate or interest therein derived under or through the registered proprietor, he shall give notice to the caveator that the caveator is required to take proceedings in the Court to establish his title to the estate or interest claimed by him, within a time specified in the notice being not less than six months after the giving thereof. (5) If a caveator who has received such notice from the Registrar-General does not within the time mentioned in the notice bring an action in the Court to obtain a declaration that he is entitled to the estate or interest claimed by him and give written notice thereof to the Registrar-General, or obtain from the Court an order or injunction restraining the Registrar-General from issuing a certificate to the applicant under this Part, the caveat shall lapse. (6) A lapsed caveat shall not except with the permission of the Court be renewed by or on behalf of the same person in respect of the same estate or interest. (7) In any proceedings to establish the title of the caveator the issue for the Court to decide shall be whether the caveator is the registered proprietor of the land or is entitled to an estate or interest derived under or through the registered proprietor. 80G—Power to issue certificates Upon or after the expiration of the time fixed by the notice under section 80E of this Act, if the Registrar-General is satisfied that the possession on which the applicant relies would, if the land had not been subject to this Act, have conferred on the applicant a title by possession, he may issue to the applicant a certificate for an estate in fee simple or for any other estate acquired by the applicant, free from all encumbrances appearing by the Register Book to affect the existing title: Provided that where a caveat has been lodged against the granting of an application the Registrar-General shall not grant that application unless— (a) the caveat has lapsed; or (b) proceedings taken by the caveator to establish his title have been finally disposed of, and in those proceedings the caveator has failed to establish his title, or to obtain from the Court an injunction restraining the Registrar‑General from issuing a certificate to the applicant. 80H—Cancellation of instruments (1) Where a certificate of title for any land is issued under this Part the Registrar-General— (a) shall cancel the existing certificate of title for that land and any instrument, entry or memorial in the Register Book altogether or to such extent as is necessary to give effect to the certificate of title issued; (b) shall endorse on every certificate of title so cancelled a memorandum stating the circumstances and authority under which the cancellation is made. (2) Upon the cancellation of a certificate of title, instrument, entry or memorial pursuant to this section, the estate and interest evidenced thereby shall cease and determine. 80I—Fees The fees payable upon an application under this Part and in respect of the issue of a certificate under this Part shall be the same as if the application were an application to bring land under the provisions of this Act.