EFFECT OF ADVERSE POSSESSION OF REGISTERED LAND

Abstract

The operation of the doctrine of adverse possession particularly to registered land has been variously interrogated especially in its capability of defeating the notion of indefeasibility of title which is a fundamental characteristic of land registration, conflict with property right, unfairness and unjustness of it, and in terms of economic problems associated with it. The problems have sparked up waves of reform of the doctrine across jurisdictions and works by various scholars tailored towards eliminating or at least reducing the effects of the operation of the doctrine to registered land. This work, using the doctrinal methodology advances the arguments on effects of adverse possession of registered land and finds that adverse possession of registered land is unjust and unfair to registered land owners, incompatible with the concept of indefeasibility of title and conflicts with the concept of property right. The work recommends the application of restitution principle founded on unjust enrichment to the operation of adverse possession as a workable solution to deal with the negative effects of adverse possession of registered land in order to adequately protect the interest of registered land owners.