Land Law Flashcards
According to Sir Elliot Coke what is land.
Land means in it’s restrained sense means soil, but in the legal sense it is generic term comprising every species of grand, soil, earth, what so ever pasture, wood, tree and includes houses and buildings for which conveyance of land, the structure upon which is fasten on.
Ibrahim v yola 1986 defined land as
According to the principles of common law land includes everything up to the sky down to the centre of the earth.
What is the consequence of the definition of land by common law.
The presumption of this is that the transfer of ownership of a particular piece of land include not just the soil but the all building permanently attached or fasten to the soil not only building but tree.
Why is the common law definition of land not applicable in Nigeria
Because the airspace is owned by F.G. According to Air space act
When does a person have a property in a thing?
When a person can exercise rights of ownership, and land is often defined as the material of the earth, whatever maybe the ingredients of which it is composed of whether soil or other substances and rock. It includes tree or occupied space for an indefinite distance upward as well as downwards subjected to limitation upon the use of air space imposed and rights in the use of airspace granted by law.
How is land law defined in customary law.
Land law in customary law has a wide application as it includes the land itself, the surface soil, things an the soil enjoined with if as being part of it by nature e.g rivers, streams, trees or things artificial fixed if such as buildings and structures.
Section 2 of property and conveyance law defines as?
Defines land as land of any tenure, buildings or part of building and other hereditament and easement, right, privilege or benefit.
Section 18 of interpretation act defines
defines land as immovable property and everything attached to the earth or permanently fasten to anything which is attached to the earth but does not include minerals
Why doesn’t the definition of interpretation and does not include minerals because
Section 1,2,3 of the Nigerian mineral and mining act 2007. Which means ownership, management and control of minerals to the the federal government of Nigeria
Section 1(2) of Nigeria mineral and mining act
Empowers the federal government to acquire any land minerals have been found.
S 44 of the CFRN 1999
Vest the and management all mineral natural gas, in under or upon any land in the federal government of Nigeria
Section 1 of the petroleum act vest?
Ownership of petroleum with Nigeria and its territorial matters, continental shell and exclusive economic zone limited to the federal government.
Land is more then just soil it at times used to denote ‘ corporeal and incorporeal hereditaments’. Explain the terms used above.
Corporeal hereditaments: a hereditament literally means something inheritable. Inheritance strictly means the process whereby certain property passes automatically to the person designated by the law as the deceased’s heir – usually the eldest son.
Incorporeal hereditaments: it will be inferred from what was said above about corporeal hereditaments that the expression ‘incorporeal hereditament’ means, broadly, intangible real property.
What is a fixture?
A fixture is a chattel which has been annexed to, and so has become part of, the land. It can often be vital to know whether an item is land or chattel. In particular, on the sale of land, the vendor may take away with him any chattels, but, unless the contract itself otherwise provides, the purchaser is entitled to everything which was part of the land at the date of the contract of sale.
What is Annexation?
There is a two-stage test to be applied in order to determine whether a chattel has become part of the land. The first part of the test is a crude rule, but it determines the burden of proof. You look for the ‘degree of annexation’. If an item is firmly attached to the land, then it is presumed to be part of the land unless the contrary is proved; if an item merely rests by its own weight or is only superficially attached, then it is presumed to be a chattel unless the contrary is shown. Nails, screws and cement make for firm attachment; drawing pins, sticky tape and electricity plugs provide superficial attachment.
The second part of the test is, however, the more important. You have to look to the ‘purpose of annexation’. An actor’s purpose is to be inferred by an objective examination of what he said and did. An item which is firmly fixed to the land may nevertheless still be a chattel, if it is shown that the purpose of the fixing was not to make the item a permanent feature, but was done simply for its better enjoyment as a chattel. A valuable painting, for example, might need to be very firmly fixed in place as a security precaution, but it is only to be expected that its owner will take it away with him when he moves house. On the other hand, an item which is completely unattached may be a fixture if the inference is that it was intended to be a (more or less) permanent feature. A dry stone wall is the classic example of that. Another example might be a statue placed as the centrepiece of an ornamental garden.
