Foreword

COMMONWEALTH CARIBBEAN LAND LAW is yet another publication

in an impressive list of scholarly legal texts written by members of the

academic staff of the Faculty of Law of the University of the West Indies

(U.W.I.). This text exemplifies the prolific output of the teachers of law at

U.W.I. and their commitment to legal research and education.

When the process of domestication of Commonwealth Caribbean law

began in 1970 with the inauguration of the Faculty of Law, many of us

envisaged then the publication of legal texts dedicated to the exposition

and discussion of their subject-matter in a Commonwealth Caribbean

context. Thirty-six years later that vision has been realised.

The foundations of land law in the Commonwealth Caribbean are

not uniform. In this region the subject does not owe its origins to any

single traditional system of law. Attributes of civil law systems and

codal law exist in St. Lucia. Residual influences of Roman-Dutch law

are still extant in Guyana; elsewhere, the English common law may be

dominant.

Bringing together in one volume all of the relevant legal materials

relating to land law in the Commonwealth Caribbean is a massive under-

taking. Sampson Owusu must be generously congratulated for the

excellent quality of the final product of his labours. This book represents

the epitome of resourcefulness and is a fine testimony to the author’s pro-

found scholarship, mental acuity and research skills.

While treating his subject with the customary orthodoxy of standard

English texts on the law of Real Property, Mr.Owusu has interwoven in his

work a mass of comparative legal material from the disparate jurisdictions

that comprise the Commonwealth Caribbean with great skill and economy

in the use of language to provide students and practitioners of law with an

important learning and research tool. It must be said that, notwithstanding

the march of contemporary information technology, much of the material

in this book – especially secondary sources – would not be readily avail-

able to the regional legal profession. The author has therefore made an

important contribution to legal research and the practice of law in our

region.

Afeature of Mr. Owusu’s work that impresses me greatly is his robust

and provocative approach to discussion of judicial decisions. Many

decisions, even at the level of the House of Lords, are subjected to search-

ing and critical analysis. Illogic or errant reasoning are exposed. Such

academic courage is greatly to be admired and encouraged. It ought to

inspire us in the judiciary to be more careful the next time the issue is

raised and it ought to conduce to an improvement in the quality of judicial

decisions.

With all the gusto I own, I strongly commend this book to students and

practitioners of law alike. The road to the solution of most of the problems

that will confront them in land law has been brilliantly illuminated by the

FOREWORD

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