§ LORD ST. LEONARDSpresented a Bill for the better Protection of Purchasers against Judgments and Lis pendens and Life Annuities. The noble and learned Lord stated that one object of the Bill was to remedy certain anomalies and doubts which at present existed as to the law of the registration of judgments, another was to place the counties palatine of Durham and Chester on the same footing with respect to that law as the rest of the kingdom; another object had reference to the registration of annuity deeds. These deeds were formerly directed to be enrolled, in order to the protection of grantors of annuities against usurious transactions. When the usury laws were repealed last year, the Act for enrolment of annuities was very naturally repealed also. He proposed now to re-enact the registration of these deeds; and he did so for this reason. Although he was opposed to the registration of mortgages, purchases, and settlements of land, he drew a wide distinction between dealings with the estate and the title deeds thereof, and such incumbrances as were created upon it by lis pendens, judgments, &c. He thought the latter class of incumbrances should be registered; and he proposed now to enact that no life annuity should be a charge against lands, tenements, and hereditaments unless it was registered. The reason why he proposed to include this with the other classes of incumbrances to which he had referred was, that they were general incumbrances, that the title deeds of an estate never went along with the annuity, and that, therefore, it was such an incumbrance as a purchaser ought to have the means of being protected against.
THE LORD CHANCELLORsaid, he was by no means opposed to the Bill which his noble and learned Friend had just laid on the table. He was, however, sorry to 1295 hear that he still retained his objections to the registration of assurances, because it was his (the Lord Chancellor's) intention to introduce a Bill during the present Session, not for the general registration of assurances, but for carrying it one stage further by establishing a registration of mortgages.
LORD BROUGHAMentirely concurred with his noble and learned Friend on the woolsack in approving highly of the measure introduced by his noble and learned Friend near him. He must at the same time say that he thought it would be of very great advantage to the jurisprudence of this country if we had such a functionary as a Minister of Justice. Had we had had such an official, it would have been perfectly impossible that such anomalies as those pointed out by his noble and learned Friend should have occurred.
LORD CAMPBELLalso expressed his concurrence in the principle of the Bill, not despairing of a general Bill on registration.
§ Bill read 1a.