THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD OF PRESCRIPTIVE RIGHTS AND THE REGISTRATION REQUIREMENT

The law on prescription and its reform in Ireland, and elsewhere, has generated considerable controversy. In Ireland the law was radically overhauled by the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009, leading commentators to refer to the reforms as a “hopeless jumble” and “a cautionary tale”. This article focuses on one apparently innocuous feature of the reform of the law on prescription: the introduction of a requirement to register easements acquired by prescription in the Land Registry/Registry of Deeds. As the deadline for compliance with this registration requirement (1 December 2021) looms on the horizon, it seems to be generating considerable anxiety for legal practitioners and their clients. This article explains the rationale underlying the registration requirement. It also considers the potential repercussions for the relevant parties if a prescriptive easement is not required by the deadline. I conclude by recommending that the legislature revisit the mandatory registration requirement and consider replacing it with an approach designed not only to encourage registration, but also to eliminate the overriding status of prescriptive easements. This would facilitate transactions in relation to land but also discourage litigation between neighbouring landowners, which rarely ends well.