MARCH 24 — Long term occupation and use of land does not necessarily confer on that party ownership interest over such land even if such party has been paying quit rent, assessment rents and utility bills.
This was decided most recently on March 3 in the case of The Mother Superior of the Daughters of Charity of the Canossian Institute (Malaya) (Incorporated under the Daughters of Charity of the Canossian Institute (Incorporation) Act 1957) & Anor v Director of Land Titles, Malacca (Pursuant to Section 6 of National Land Code (Penang & Malacca Titles) Act 1963) & Ors [2025] MLJU 534.
The case concerns an application by the Canossian Institute and another (the Applicants) for judicial review arising from the alleged failure or refusal of the Director of Land Titles, Malacca, among others, (the Respondents) to grant and issue a replacement document of title for a piece of land known as Lot 6, Town Area XXVII, Melaka Tengah District, Melaka State(Lot 6) and to register the same in the name of the Applicants under the National Land Code (Penang and Malacca Titles) Act 1963 pursuant to an application by the Applicants (the Application).
Since 1905, Lot 6 has been occupied and administered as a Convent and a school by the Portuguese Mission. The Portuguese Mission was later incorporated under the Portuguese Commissions Ordinance 1910 (the Portuguese Mission).
The school known as the Portuguese Mission Girl’s school or Tranquerah Girls’ school was also known as the Portuguese Convent since many of the teachers were nuns of the Sisters of Canossia who came from Macau, a colony of Portugal at the material time and they resided on Lot 6.
The Sisters of Canossa was later incorporated as The Mother Superior of the Daughters of Charity of the Canossian Institute (Malaya) pursuant to the Daughters of Charity of the Canossian Institute (Incorporation) Act 1957 (Canossian Sisters). The school was later renamed and known as Convent of the Sacred Heart (the School).
The School has since become a national school known as Sekolah Kebangsaan Sacred Heart Convent Melaka and part of the Malaysian school system under the Ministry of Education.
Thus, since 1905, Lot 6 and the School have been under the occupation, use and management of the Portuguese Mission and the Canossian Sisters.
In 2014 the Applicants, acting through their solicitors, made a request to the State authorities for the issuance of a continuance or replacement land title for Lot 6. That communication was followed by a series of exchanges of letters between the solicitors and the State authorities, which expressed reluctance to accede to the application based on a number of reasons.
A view of Sekolah Kebangsaan Sacred Heart Convent Melaka. — Screengrab from Google Street View
The exchanges finally culminated in a letter in 2022 issued by the State authorities stating that they did not have the necessary jurisdiction to grant legal ownership of Lot 6 to the Applicants since the Land Titles Appeal Board, which was initially established under the Act, have since ceased to act and therefore the State authorities left it to the Applicants to refer the Application to Court for determination.
The application for judicial review sought for, among others, a declaration that the Second Applicant is the legal proprietor of Lot 6 and an order to vest all legal and/or registered interest in and to Lot 6 in favour of the Second Applicant.
In his lengthy judgment, which dealt with the historical facts and the relevant laws applying to land in the State of Melaka, High Court Judge Mohd Radzi Abdul Hamid said:
“Whilst this Court accepts that the Applicants have been in possession and occupation of the land since 1905, possession or occupation is not synonymous with ownership. They are distinct legal rights. It is an accepted position under the law that a party’s long term occupation and use of land does not necessarily confer on that party ownership interest over such land even if such party had been paying quit rent, assessment rents and utility bills.”
The learned judge referred to no less than five authorities that go as far back as 1977. The learned judge then continued:
“What is apparent to this Court is that whilst Lot 6 is proven to have been surveyed and delineated, there is no evidence that there has been included in the Interim Register a holding in the name of the Applicants.
“It must be said that a survey and delineation of a land by a public authority is not prima facie evidence of ownership. The evidence of ownership comes in the form of a deed of title or some other instrument capable of showing legal and beneficial ownership in the land.
“Further, this Court does not find that the Malacca Municipality Notice of Assessment is necessarily evidence of ownership. That notice is issued to a party who is the occupier of land or house [who is not necessarily the owner of the land].”
After having dealt with a number of documentary evidence to support the Application, the learned judge said:
“The historical fact of occupation and use of land [are] not in [themselves] sufficient to establish a legal and beneficial ownership interest in the land.”
And after considering all evidence and arguments, the learned judge concluded that, on the balance of probabilities, Lot 6 is State land.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
