Clause 71 - Duty to disclose unregistered interests

Part of Land Registration Bill [Lords] – in a Public Bill Committee at 9:50 am on 13 December 2001.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Bill Cash Bill Cash Shadow Attorney General 9:50, 13 December 2001

I am sorry to hear that the Minister is not well. I hope that nothing that I say today will make him feel any worse.

The object of the amendment is to ensure that no one should be obliged to give information that he has not got or could not reasonably get, particularly if failure to fulfil that obligation might prejudice him in later proceedings about the accuracy of the register. If the information that is supplied is patently deficient,

the registrar will make an appropriate entry on the register. The amendment should really be by reference to a previous amendment, which says ''subject to subsection (2)''. It is purely a drafting matter.

It is reasonable that an applicant for registration should make full disclosure. The consequences of not disclosing something that should have been disclosed are serious. The applicant may not qualify for an indemnity if, as a consequence, the register is wrong. The Committee will appreciate that this is a serious matter. I understand that the Law Society is keen to ensure that, in fairness, the consequence should not follow from failure to disclose something that the applicant neither knew nor could reasonably have known. This might not be a very extensive amendment, but the matter is serious, and, unless I am satisfied by the Minister's response, I propose to divide the Committee.