Chapter 12 Self-test questions

Which of the following four factors can make land law disputes particularly difficult to resolve?
(i) Land is a limited resource;
(ii) There may be multiple competing rights in relation to the same piece of land;
(iii) The disputes may involve important matters, such as occupation of a home;
(iv) The disputes may involve two innocent parties.

Factors (i) and (ii)

Factors (i) and (ii) and (iii)

Factors (ii) and (ii) and (iv)

All of the four factors.

Is it right to say that, in law, 'context is everything'?

It must be right as Lady Hale stated this in Stack v Dowden (2007).

Context is certainly important - as shown by a case such as Stack v Dowden (2007) - but legal concepts are also very important, so context is not everything.

It is right as judges in any case must pay particular attention to the specific facts of the case.

It is wrong as the point of legal rules is to have general effect, so they can apply independently of the specific context.

In paragraph 12.15, two models of legal reasoning are discussed: the 'utility model' and the 'doctrinal model'. The former focuses on the practical effect of a legal rule or its application; the doctrinal model instead focuses on whether a legal rule or its application accords with other, pre-existing legal rules. Which of the following statements provides the best account of the impact of those two models in land law, as exemplified by the dispute in National Provincial Bank v Ainsworth (1965)?

Whilst the doctrinal model is particularly prominent in land law, the utility model may sometimes play an important role in judicial reasoning.

Whilst Parliament is free to make reforms based on the utility model, judges must apply only the doctrinal model.

If it is necessary to achieve a fair result, a judge is free to depart entirely from the doctrinal model.

A judge is free to choose between the utility and doctrinal models according to his or her personal preference.

Which, if any, of the following four factors may be an advantage of reforming land law through legislation rather than through judicial development?
(i) Legislative reform can take place more quickly;
(ii) Legislative reform need not have retrospective effect;
(iii) Legislative reform will be clearer and easier to apply;
(iv) Legislative reform can be targeted to a specific context.

Factors (i), (ii) and (iii)

Factors (i), (ii) and (iv)

All of the four factors.

How did regulation, rather than direct reform of the law, deal with the problem revealed in cases such as Scott v Southern Pacific Mortgages Ltd (2015)?

Once sale and leaseback transactions became a regulated activity under the FSMA 2000, it was no longer practical to sell such schemes.

Tighter regulation of solicitors meant that they advised homeowners not to enter into sale and leaseback schemes.

Tighter regulation of banks meant that banks would no longer lend to purchasers operating sale and leaseback schemes.

Tighter regulation of valuers meant that the valuations they provided of homes were too low to support the mortgage lending required for sale and leaseback transactions.

Which of the following four reasons explain why doctrinal analysis of land law important?
(i) Doctrinal analysis is a staple of the courts' approach to resolving land law disputes.
(ii) Doctrinal analysis, in seeking to identify and explain the relevant rules, can help to make the law more certain.
(iii) Doctrinal analysis helps us to see what the law is, before considering what reforms might be necessary.
(iv) Doctrinal analysis helps us to see how particular reforms might best be put into practice.

Factors (i) and (ii)

Factors (i), (ii) and (iii)

Factors (ii), (iii) and (iv)

All of the four factors.

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