The Gazette 1987

GAZETTE

SEPTEMBER 1987

the period from contract to completion. 3. The introduction of a time limit for the bringing of applications under Section 27 of the Local Government (Planning & Devel- opment) Act 1976. 4. The removal of the power of Sheriffs to seize leasehold pro- perty, which power is rarely exercised. 5. The removal of the need to ob- tain consent under Section 45 of the Land Act in respect of the transfer of properties which, though not technically "urban" are clearly not "rural" either. 6. The removal from the compul- sory registration provisions contained in the Registration of Title Act of certain lands af- fected by the Irish Church Acts. 7. The amendment of the Family Home Protection Act so as to provide a time limit behind which purchasers need not en- quire as to the giving of con- sents or the evidencing of such consents and the clarification that "assents" by personal re- presentatives do not fall within the provisions of the Act. 8. The amendment of the require- ment that companies notify the Companies Office of the registration of judgement mort- gages against companies and the validating of the notice of such mortgages by the judge- ment creditor. The Commission welcomes sug- gestions for the reform of other anomalies or other proposals for change. They should be addressed to the Commission at Ardilaun House, 111 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin 2.

Law Reform Commission- Conveyancing and Land Law Reforms

Shortly after it took office in January 1987, the newly appointed Law Reform Commission set up a working group on conveyancing and land law. The members of the working group are Miss Justice Carroll, Mary Laffoy, S.C., George Brady, S.C., Professor James C. Brady, Ernest B. Farrell and Rory McEntee, Solicitors, under the chairmanship of John F. Buckley, a member of the Commission. The Commission had been ask- ed by the Government to make recommendations in this area that would lead to the reform of con- veyancing law and practice in areas where this could lead to savings for house purchasers. The Group has accordingly adopted as a primary target the identification of anomalies in the law that cause difficulty or delays in normal house purchase and other conveyancing transactions. The Group is natural- ly anxious to obtain suggestions from practitioners and academics to assist them in identifying anomalies in this area of law and difficulties which be readily be dealt with. The Group has already agreed to consider at a future time certain proposed amendments to aspects of land law, including the following: 1. The abolition of the fee tail estate. 2. The repeal of the Rule in Shel- ly's case. 3. The repeal of the Rule in Whit- by & Mitchell. 4. The modernisation of the law governing Powers of Attorney and the possible introduction of an enduring Power of At- torney. 5. The repeal of the Statute of Uses. 6. The introduction of a trust con- cept to co-ownership of in- terests in land. 7. The abolition of the Rules restricting the enforcement of positive covenants in relation to freehold land.

8. The introduction of a provision permitting contracting out of the Landlord & Tenant Act in limited cases. Among the topics which the Group has already considered are: 1. The introduction of the parlia- mentary conveyance doctrine to clarify the title acquired by adverse possession to lease- hold property. 2. The exclusion from the opera- tion of the Rules against Per- petuities of the creation of easements and other interests in land, including options. 3. The introduction of a provision to enable merger to take place where the owner of a Lessee's interest in portion only of land held under Lease acquires the fee simple reversion. 4. The clarification of the law relating to partition, following the decision of O'D -v- O'D. 5. The amendment of the law re- lating to definition of certain terms such as "month" which, in the absence of other defini- tion, means "lunar" month. 6. The introduction of simpler procedures for the severance of joint tenancies. 7. The clarification of the re- quirements for evidencing the consent of Landlords to assign- ments of Lessee's interests. 8. The release of tenant's surety from their obligations where an Assignment with the written consent of the Lessor has been obtained. 9. Confirmation that a surety for a tenant remains bound in the event of a transfer of the Lessor's interest. Conveyancing: 1. The reduction of the statutory period of title under the Vendor and Purchaser Acts from forty years to twenty years. 2. The apportionment of the risk relating to property as between Vendor and Purchaser during

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