Abstract:
Positive prescription1 is not an unfamiliar concept to Sri Lankan land law. The history of
this concept dates back to Roman days when it had originated as a mode of acquiring land
ownership under Roman Land law. Positive prescription became part of Sri Lankan land
law when Roman-Dutch law was received by the Sri Lankan legal system. However,
Roman-Dutch law principles on positive prescription were changed and abolished2 by way
of introduction of English law in 1871.3 Thus current Sri Lankan law on positive
prescription is a mixture of both Roman-Dutch and English law principles. Prescription
Ordinance 1871 contains specific provisions to regulate law relating to acquiring land
ownership by adverse possession. By fulfilling these requirements4 an adverse possessor
can acquire ownership to a plot of land.
The registration of documents system was introduced to Sri Lanka in 1863.5 There were
previous attempts to introduce Title Registration to Sri Lanka;6 registration of documents
system prevailed till 1998 as none of these attempts were successful. Title Registration
Act which is operational now was enacted in 1998. The Act is currently being
implemented in various parts of the country7 and is expected to be fully implemented by
the year 2020, and till then, both systems will function as parallels. Registration of
prescriptive title to a land based on adverse possession is accepted under registration of
documents system and, Prescription Ordinance and Registration of Documents Ordinance
were functional together without any conflict. Nevertheless, law of positive prescription
was abolished by section 57 of Registration of title Act in 1998. Consequently prescription
will not be considered as a method of acquiring ownership to lands in Sri Lanka after
Torrance system is fully implemented. This paper intends to research whether this is
essential and justifiable in a Torrance system and also whether Sri Lanka should abolish
prescriptive ownership to land entirely. The paper would also bring suggestions to amend
section 57 of registration of title act of 1998.
