LAW OF PROPERTY (AMENDMENT) BILL. [H.L.] (Hansard, 10 June 1926)

§ THE LORD CHANCELLOR (VISCOUNT CAVE)
My Lords, in moving that these Amendments be now considered, I think it would be convenient that I should say a few words. Some of your Lordships may be aware that I was not responsible for the great changes effected in conveyancing by the Act of 1922 and I cannot claim any part of the credit for those changes, nor are my withers wrung by any of the criticisms upon that Act. Indeed, I think I was the only member of this House who raised objections to that Act, although I could only succeed in delaying it for one year. But after the Act had passed, and especially after I had, for the first time, succeeded to my present office, I thought it was my duty to do all that I could in order to further the smooth working of the changes which Parliament had sanctioned. Accordingly, that Act was first postponed and then carefully considered in detail and amended, and last year the law of real property, so amended, was consolidated in a series of Statutes.
Just before those Acts came into operation on January 1 this year some further doubts and difficulties were raised and it became plain that a short Bill must be passed especially for dealing with the matter which is the subject of the first clause of this amending Bill. I was anxious, however, to make the Bill as short as possible, to deal only with urgent matters and to leave doubts so far as possible to be resolved in the course of the working of the Act and through the decisions of the Courts. The House of Commons has been somewhat more liberal in the changes that are proposed. That House considered the matter carefully in Committee and has proposed some additional amendments in the law. I think that many of the Amendments that are sent to us now are improvements of the Bill and that others are useful as preventing doubts and, possibly, litigation. None, I think, are in any way harmful and, having carefully considered them all, I am going to propose to your Lordships that this House should accept the whole of the Commons Amendments.

§ VISCOUNT HALDANE
My Lords, unlike the noble and learned Viscount on the Woolsack, I was always favourable to the series of Acts that are now on the Statute Book. Indeed, it was I who, when I occupied the place which he occupies, introduced the first Bills which ultimately took the shape that they have now assumed, but changes so sweeping naturally involve reconsideration after a short time by the numerous highly skilled people who are dealing with these matters in practice, and the noble and learned Viscount brought in an amending Bill which the House thought very useful and passed. Now we have a series of Amendments which are the result of the consideration by the other House of the Bill which we sent to them. So far as I can see none of these Amendments make any difference to the principle of the Bill. I have to take the matter to some extent on trust because I have not been able to go minutely into all the changes that have been made. They look to be changes in the right direction and to be in accord with the wishes expressed by the conveyancing profession for the purpose of getting over difficulties which the new system has brought before them. If, therefore, the noble and learned Viscount says that, having examined these Amendments with his advisers, he is satisfied that no infringement has been made of the principle of the Bill, I shall concur with him in thinking that we shall do well to accept the Commons Amendments.

§ LORD STRACHIE
My Lords, I should like to ask the noble and learned Viscount whether these Amendments alter to any extent the Amendments made in this House.

§ THE LORD CHANCELLOR
No, I do not think that they do. Where they do alter the wording of Amendments made by this House I think that they improve them, especially one in which the noble Lord was himself interested—namely, an Amendment relating to agricultural tenancies.