Dr CJ Seymour-Wilson v Musa Abess

Registration of conveyancing instrument insufficient to prove ownership of land. Davies v Bickersteth overruled. Supreme Court of Sierra Leone, 17 June 1981

This case covers a number of legal issues: the onus of proof on the plaintiff when seeking a declaration of title to land; the difference between registration of titles and registration of instruments recording the transfer of land; mere possession as a sufficient basis on which to prove trespass; and an example of where a retrial should not have been ordered by the Court of Appeal. Livesey Luke CJ also succinctly recounts the legislative history of land titles registration in England.

See Dr CJ Seymour-Wilson v Musa Abess for the full judgment.

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