Land Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Land Law - Essay Example This is termed as easement by prescription, and is quite frequent on rural lands, where a landowner may fail to realise the surreptitious use of his land. The incorrect location of fences, results in prescriptive easements, if left unchecked.1 The title obtained from enjoyment or use, as stipulated by the law, had been defined as prescription. An easement by prescription was a proprietary interest in the servient land that would have a binding effect on the successors in title to such land. Prescription recognised that on occasion, individuals had to access land belonging to others. Moreover, the law should be flexible, and frequently, over a protracted period the formal process of acquiring rights had to be circumvented.2 Easements arise through three methods; first, prescription at common law. This is based on the assumption that the use had commenced prior to the year 1189, and was for a continuous period of 20 years. The second is that of lost modern grant, which requires 20 years of continuous use to establish an easement by prescription. This is not affected by any evidence, from the servient owner that no grant had been provided. Finally, under the Prescription Act 1832, uninterrupted use for 20 years, establishes a prescriptive right.3 The common law prescription presents several difficulties. In order to rectify this situation, the doctrine of lost modern grant was introduced by the courts. This principle permits a claimant to obtain a prescriptive easement, if he had enjoyed continuous use for 20 years. In Dalton v Angus,4 their Lordships upheld this principle.5 In addition, the Land Registration Act 2002 has sustained the overriding status of prescriptive easements. Although, these interests do not find a place on the land register, they are enforceable against a land owner.6 In our present problem, there