Property
Land Registration Act with civilian property concepts
Saint Lucia completed a systematic land adjudication and registration programme, and title now rests on the register maintained under the Land Registration Act, supported by the Land Adjudication Act. Substantive property concepts, however, come from the Civil Code, so usufruct, emphyteusis and civilian servitudes appear on titles. Non-nationals require an alien landholding licence to acquire land.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — National land register under the Registrar of Lands
- Deadline — Alien landholding licence: obtained before completion
- Deadline — Registration of a transfer: lodged promptly, as priority runs from registration
- Deadline — Acquisitive prescription: generally ten or thirty years depending on title and good faith
Governing law
- Land Registration Act
- Land Adjudication Act
- Civil Code of Saint Lucia (property (arts. 366 onward))
- Aliens (Licensing) Act
In practice
The register is the source of title, so the older deed chains matter only for interpreting what was adjudicated. The civilian overlay is the practical difference from neighbouring states: a usufruct registered against a parcel gives the holder enjoyment for life without ownership, and acquisitive prescription can perfect a possessory claim in a way that the common law of adverse possession would not.