LAND LAW 1 -- TUTORIAL QUESTIONS 1

Land Law I tutorial questions (ISLAMIC LAND OWNERSHIP & HISTORICAL BACKGROUND)

QUESTION 1Explain the characteristics of Malay customary tenure and its resemblance to the Islamic land tenure system.

QUESTION 2Explain two characteristics of the Torrens system. Support each characteristic with case law or legal provisions.

QUESTION 3Give two advantages of the Torrens system and two disadvantages of the Deeds system.

QUESTION 4Under Islamic land ownership, man is said to be a trustee when he owns land. Briefly explain this concept of trusteeship with reference to at least one authority from the Quran or Hadith.

QUESTION 5Various systems relating to land tenure have evolved in the states of Peninsular Malaysia from the Malacca Sultanate until present times. Discuss, with references to relevant legal authorities, the types of land systems that have been in place in Malaysia until the passing of the National Land Code 1965 and how the Torrens system has reformed Malaysia’s land law.

QUESTION 6

In Shaik Abdul Latif & Ors v Shaik Elias Bux [1915] 1 FMSLR 204 at p. 221 Innes J.C observed that:

“On each occasion when the introduction of British influence upon the administration of the States has been formally recognised by their Rulers the only law which existed and was accepted by the Malays and other Mohammedans as applicable to questions of inheritance and testamentary dispositions was that of Mohammad modified in a few districts by local custom.”

Discuss the above statement in light of laws relating to land tenure before, during and after the presence of British in the Malay states and the extent of which those principles remain relevant under the present land system.