Land Registration and Title Security in the Digital Age

Professor David Grinlinton practiced as a lawyer, working mainly in the property law, commercial leasing, and energy areas, before joining the Faculty of Law at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, in 1990. His research and teaching interests include all aspects of real property law, commercial and residential leasing, and planning and resource management law. He is a Barrister and Solicitor if the High Court of New Zealand. ORCID: 0000-0002-9387-1766 Associate Professor Rod Thomas practiced as a barrister at the Auckland bar for many years and now is an academic at the Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand, teaching mainly in real property related subjects. He is the Senior Visiting Research Fellow of the Cambridge Centre for Property Law at the University of Cambridge, UK, and the Australasian representative to the IPRA-CINDER Scientific Committee. ORCID: 0000-0002-2792-1251

List of Contributors Table of Cases Table of Legislation Foreword Introduction PART I: Land Title Security: Recent Developments and Current Issues 1. Title Guarantee or Title Indefeasibility? 2. Fraud and Torrens 3. In Personam Claims: Developments and Thoughts 4. Indefeasibility of Title: Law Reform in Scotland and New Zealand 5. Recent Developments in the Torrens System in Australia 6. Reform of the New Zealand Land Transfer Act 2017 7. The New Fraud Test and Manifest Injustice 8. Knocking at the Compensation Door: What Might a Deprived Owner Expect Under the Land Transfer Act 2017? 9. The Registrar’s Powers in the Digital Age 10. Making Personal Obligations Binding: Covenants in Gross and Encumbrances Under New Zealand’s New Land Transfer Act PART II: Automation of Land Registration Systems 11. Automation, the Land Registration Act (England and Wales) and the Future 12. Automation of a Torrens Register: An Australian Perspective 13. The Development and Current Position of Electronic Conveyancing in Ireland 14. Automation of the New Zealand Torrens Register: Practitioner Abuse, Risk and Liability PART III: Cross-cutting Issues and Emerging Challenges 15. Are Land Registers Becoming Online Intermediary Platforms of Land Data? 16. Privatisation, the Consensus Algorithms of Blockchains, and Land Titling in Australia: Where Are We Now, and Where Are We Going? 17. Judicial Interpretation of Torrens Registered Documents 18. Indigenous Land Rights and Land Registration Systems: Māori and the Land Transfer Act 2017 19. Managing Property Law Risk: The Role of Private Insurance 20. Land Registration in England & Wales: Problems, Solutions and Missed Opportunities