Registration of Title Act, 1942

Compensation for error, forgery or fraud in a register.

22.—(1) This section applies to loss sustained by any person by reason of—

(a) the rectification by the Court of any such error in a register made by the registering authority or any of his officers as may be rectified under the Principal Act as amended by this Act, or

(b) any error (whether of misstatement, misdescription, omission or otherwise, and whether in a register or in a registry map referred to therein) made by the registering authority or any of his officers and not rectified by the Court, or

(c) any entry in or omission from a register caused or obtained by forgery or fraud, or

(d) any error in an official search carried out by the registering authority or any of his officers.

(2) Where any person sustains loss to which this section applies, and the loss is not caused or substantially contributed to by the act, neglect or default of himself or his agent, that person and also any person deriving title from him shall be entitled to compensation for that loss in accordance with this section.

(3) All compensation payable under this section shall be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

(4) The following provisions shall apply to every claim for compensation under this section, that is to say:—

(a) the claim shall be made in the prescribed manner to the central registering authority, and notice thereof shall be given to the Minister for Finance;

(b) the central registering authority shall determine the claim and such determination shall be final, unless either the Minister for Finance or the claimant is dissatisfied with that determination, in which case either party may appeal, in the prescribed manner, to the Court;

(c) no claim shall be entertained by the central registering authority after the expiration of six years from the time when the right to compensation accrued unless, on the expiration of such six years, the person entitled to claim was under disability, in which case the claim shall not be entertained after the expiration of two years from the termination of the disability, but the determination of the central registering authority to refuse or allow a claim under this paragraph shall be subject to an appeal in the prescribed manner to the Court;

(d) for the purposes of the next preceding paragraph, the right to compensation shall be deemed to have accrued—

(i) in regard to any estate or interest in possession, on the date of the registration which occasioned the loss in respect of which compensation is claimed, or

(ii) in regard to any estate or interest in remainder or reversion, on the date when such estate or interest would, but for such registration as afore-said, have fallen into possession;

(e) the decision of the Court on an appeal under any of the foregoing paragraphs of this sub-section shall be final and binding on all parties to the appeal.

(5) Where compensation is paid under this section to any person,—

(a) it shall be applicable in discharge of any incumbrances affecting the estate or interest of that person in the land or charge in respect of which the compensation is payable, and

(b) the Minister for Finance shall have the same right to recover the amount of such compensation from any person who caused or derived advantage from the loss as the person who suffered the loss would have had if the loss were an injury caused to him by the first mentioned person.