The High Court has dismissed an appeal by a woman seeking compensation over a Land Registry error affecting land in Donegal, ruling that her claim was outside the statutory six-year limit.
The judgment, delivered by Mr Justice Abbott on 21 April 2010, concerned folios 42575 and 36099F in County Donegal. The woman said she bought folio 42575 in July 1996 and only discovered around 2007, when planning was sought, that part of a plot had been transferred to folio 36099F. She said the transfer had reduced the value of her land by €250,000. Those were claims set out in her affidavit, not findings that the court made about the amount of any loss.
The Property Registration Authority had refused compensation on 21 April 2009. The woman appealed that refusal under section 120 of the Registration of Title Act 1964. Her counsel argued that the six-year period should run from discovery of the adverse registration, or that later developments in the law on discoverability should apply.
The judge held that he was bound by earlier Supreme Court decisions interpreting the compensation time limit. Under that approach, the period began on the date of the last transfer for value, which in this case was the woman's purchase in 1996. The judge concluded that the later discovery of the registration did not extend the statutory period.
The judgment also records the judge's hesitation about whether the woman had been a purchaser for value without notice, given that the disputed coastal land was unenclosed and lacked visible signs of occupation or asserted title. That observation was not the basis for the dismissal. The appeal was dismissed because the claim was statute barred. The court made no award of compensation.