Webster v Registrar of Lands

• Jurisdiction: Cayman Islands
• Judge: Murphy, J.
• Judgment Date: 11 November 1998
• Date: 11 November 1998
• Court: Grand Court (Cayman Islands)

(Grand Ct.

Murphy, J.

Webster

and

Registrar of Lands and Four Others

Attorneys: Brooks & Brooks for the plaintiff; Government Legal Dept. for the Registrar; Neville Levy & Assocs. for the trustees.

LAND LAW

REGISTRATION-unincorporated association as registered owner

At the request of the trustees of a church, the Registrar of Lands rectified the register to show the trustees as the registered proprietors of the land on which the church stood. The land had previously been adjudicated as being owned by the church itself and registered accordingly. The Registrar acted in the belief that the church, as an unincorporated association at the time of registration, could not hold land, and that the trustees” request had the consent of the members of the church. A congregation member applied for judicial review.

Held: (1) The church was a person capable of holding land within the meaning of the Registered Land Law (1995 Revision), since under the Interpretation Law (1995 Revision), s.3(1) a person was defined as ‘any club, society, association or other body, of one or more persons.’ This view was supported by s.2 of the Trustees (Charitable Purposes) Vesting Law (Revised) and s.37(1) of the Churches Incorporation Law (1998 Revision).

(2) Furthermore, the Registrar had no jurisdiction to rectify the adjudication record since the adjudication process was final and binding in law (Cook-Bodden v. Kirkconnell, 1992-93 CILR 89, followed).

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