L.R.O. 1/2012
LAWS OF GUYANA
TITLE TO LAND (PRESCRIPTION AND LIMITATION) ACT
CHAPTER 60:02
Act
62 of 1952
Amended by
6 of 2011







1 – 16 ... 1/2012 (inclusive) by L.R.O.
Pages Authorised
Current Authorised Pages
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Note
on
Subsidiary Legislation

This Chapter contains no subsidiary legislation.



Note
on
Revision
Section 4 of the Title to Land (Prescription and Limitation) (Amendment) Act No. 6 of 2011 provides
that proceedings pending immediately before the 30 th March, 2011, shall be continued as if the
amendments therein had not been passed.

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CHAPTER 60:02
TITLE TO LAND (PRESCRIPTION AND LIMITATION) ACT
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
SECTION
1. Short title.
2. Interpretation.
3. Title by prescription to land.
4. Declaration of title.
5. Limitation of actions to recover land.
6. Accrual of right of action in case of present interests in land.
7. Accrual of right of action in case of future interests.
8. Accrual of right of action in case of forfeiture or breach of condition.
9. Accrual of right of action in case of certain tenancies.
10. Right of action not to accrue or continue unless there is adverse
possession.
11. No right of action to be preserved by formal entry or continual claim.
12. Administration to date back to death.
13. Extinction of title after expiration of period.
14. Limitation of actions to recover rent.
15. Limitation of actions in respect of trust property.
16. Limitation of action claiming estate of a deceased person.
17. Extension of limitation period.
18. Fresh accrual of action on acknowledgment.
19. Formal provisions as to acknowledgments and part payments.
20. Effect of acknowledgment on persons other than the maker.
21. Postponement of limitation period in case of fraud or mistake.
22. Provisions as to set-off or counter-claim.
23. Acquiescence.
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4 Cap. 60:02 Title to Land (Prescription and Limitation)
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1953 Ed.
c. 184 _______________________________________________________
62 of 1952
An Act to make provision for prescription and limitation
in respect of titles to land and for purposes
connected therewith.
[31st DECEMBER, 1952]
Short title.
Interpretation.
c. 3:02
Cap. 140
1953 Ed.
1. This Act may be cited as the Title to Land
(Prescription and Limitation) Act.
2. (1) In this Act—
“action” includes any proceeding in a court of law;
“Court” means the High Court;
“land” includes any easement, profit a prendre, servitude or
other right over immovable property or connected
therewith;
“rent charge” means any annuity or periodical sum of money
charged upon or payable out of land.
(2) For the purposes of this Act a person shall be
deemed to be under a disability while he is an infant or of
unsound mind.
(3) For the purposes of the last foregoing
subsection but without prejudice to the generality thereof, a
person shall be conclusively presumed to be of unsound
mind—
(a) while he is detained in the Mental
Hospital under section 12 or section
13 of the Mental Hospital Ordinance;
CHAPTER 60:02
TITLE TO LAND (PRESCRIPTION AND
LIMITATION) ACT

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c. 10:01

Title by
prescription to
land.
[6 of 2011]
or
(b) while he is receiving treatment as a
voluntary patient in the Mental
Hospital under section 14 of the
Mental Hospital Ordinance; or
(c) while he is being dealt with as a
lunatic under section 179 of the
Criminal Law (Procedure) Act.
(4) A person shall be deemed to claim through
another person if he became entitled through, under or by the
act of that other person to the right claimed.
(5) References in this Act to a right of action to
recover land shall include references to a right to enter into
possession of the land, or, in the case of rent-charges, to
distrain for arrears of rent, and references to the bringing of
such an action shall include references to the making of such
an entry or distress.
(6) References in this Act to the possession of land
shall in the case of rent-charges be construed as references
to the receipt of the rent, and references to the date of
dispossession or discontinuance of possession of land shall
in the case of rent-charges be construed as references to the
date of the last receipt of rent.
3. Where the Court is satisfied that the right of every
other person to recover land or any undivided or other
interest in land has expired or been barred and the title of
every person to the land has been extinguished, title to the
land may, subject to subsection (2), be acquired –
(a) by sole and undisturbed possession,
user or enjoyment for not less than 12
years;

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Declaration of
title to land.
[17 of 1965]
c. 5:01.
(b) if possession, user or enjoyment is
established to the satisfaction of the
Court; and
(c) if possession, user or enjoyment was
not taken or enjoyed by fraud or by
some consent or agreement expressly
made or given for that purpose.
(2) State land, Government land, land wholly owned
by State entities including companies and corporations or in
which the controlling interest is vested in the state and any
land identified by law on a plan drawn and approved in
accordance with any law for reserves for the public interest
and benefit or to any undivided or other interest in any land
in this subsection is expressly excluded and shall not be
acquired by prescription through adverse possession.
4. (1) The Court may make a declaration of title in
regard to the land or interest in—
(a) any action brought by or against the
owner thereof or any person claiming
through him or in which all the
parties interested therein are before
the Court; or
(b) any application under section 35 or 37
of the Deeds Registry Act; or
(c) any application by a judgment
creditor; or
(d) any application under the rules of
court,
and may order that the land or interest be passed to and
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Limitation of
actions to
recover land.

Accrual of right
of action in
case of present
interests in
land.
registered in the name of the person who has so acquired
such land or interest.
(2) A Commissioner of Title may hear and
determine such matters in respect of which a judge of the
High Court has power to exercise jurisdiction under this Act
as may be assigned to him by the Chief Justice, and for that
purpose shall be vested with and may exercise the powers of
a judge of the High Court.
(3) Any order of a Commissioner of Title made in
pursuance of the jurisdiction conferred on him by subsection
(2) shall be deemed to have been made by a judge of the High
Court.
5. No action shall be brought by any person to recover
any land after the expiration of twelve years from the date on
which the right of action accrued to him or, if it first accrued
to some person through whom he claims, to that person.
6. (1) Where the person bringing an action to recover
land, or some person through whom he claims, has been in
possession thereof, and has while entitled thereto been
dispossessed or discontinued his possession, the right of
action shall be deemed to have accrued on the date of the
dispossession or discontinuance.
(2) Where any person brings an action to recover
any land of a deceased person, whether under a will or on
intestacy, and the deceased person was on the date of his
death in possession of the land or, in the case of a rent-charge
created by will or taking effect upon his death, in possession
of the land charged, and was the last person entitled to the
land to be in possession thereof, the right of action shall be
deemed to have accrued on the date of his death.
(3) Where any person brings an action to recover
land, being an estate or interest in possession assured
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Accrual of right
of action in
case of future
interests.
otherwise than by will to him, or to some person through
whom he claims, by a person who, at the date when the
assurance took effect, was in possession of the land or, in the
case of a rent-charge created by the assurance, in possession
of the land charged, and no person has been in possession of
the land by virtue of the assurance, the right of action shall be
deemed to have accrued on the date when the assurance took
effect.
7. (1) Subject as hereinafter in this section
provided, the right of action to recover any land shall, in a
case where the estate or interest claimed was an estate or
interest in reversion or remainder or any other future estate or
interest and no person has taken possession of the land by
virtue of the estate or interest claimed, be deemed to have
accrued on the date on which the estate or interest fell into
possession by the determination of the preceding estate or
interest.
(2) If the person entitled to the preceding estate or
interest, not being a term of years absolute, was not in
possession of the land on the date of the determination
thereof, no action shall be brought by the person entitled to
the succeeding estate or interest after the expiration of twelve
years from the date on which the right of action accrued to the
person entitled to the preceding estate or interest, or six years
from the date on which the right of action accrued to the
person entitled to the succeeding estate or interest, whichever
period last expires.
(3) No person shall bring an action to recover any
estate or interest in land under an assurance taking effect after
the right of action to recover the land had accrued to the
person by whom the assurance was made or some person
through whom he claimed or some person entitled to a
preceding estate or interest, unless the action is brought
within the period during which the person by whom the
assurance was made could have brought such an action.
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Accrual of right
of action in case
of forfeiture or
breach of
condition.

Accrual of
right of action
in case of
certain
tenancies.
(4) Where any person is entitled to any estate or
interest in land in possession and, while so entitled, is also
entitled to any future estate or interest in that land, and his
right to recover the estate or interest in possession is barred
under this Act, no action shall be brought by that person, or
by any person claiming through him, in respect of the future
estate or interest, unless in the meantime possession of the
land has been recovered by a person entitled to an
intermediate estate or interest.
8. A right of action to recover land by virtue of a
forfeiture or breach of condition shall be deemed to have
accrued on the date on which the forfeiture was incurred or
the condition broken:
Provided that, if such a right has accrued to a
person entitled to an estate or interest in reversion or
remainder and the land was not recovered by virtue thereof,
the right of action to recover the land shall not be deemed to
have accrued to that person until his estate or interest fell into
possession, as if no such forfeiture or breach of condition had
occurred.
9. (1) A tenancy at will shall, for the purposes of this
Act, be deemed to be determined at the expiration of a period
of one year from the commencement thereof, unless it has
previously been determined, and accordingly the right of
action of the person entitled to the land subject to the tenancy
shall be deemed to have accrued on the date of such
determination.
(2) A tenancy from year to year or other period,
without a lease in writing, shall, for the purposes of this
Act, be deemed to be determined at the expiration of the
first year or other period, and accordingly the right of action
of the person entitled to the land subject to the tenancy shall
be deemed to have accrued at the date of such determination:
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Right of action
not to accrue
or continue
unless there is
adverse
possession.
Provided that, where any rent has subsequently
been received in respect of the tenancy, the right of action
shall be deemed to have accrued on the date of the last receipt
of rent.
(3) Where any person is in possession of land by
virtue of a lease in writing by which a rent of not less than
five dollars is reserved, and the rent is received by some
person wrongfully claiming to be entitled to the land in
reversion immediately expectant on the determination of
the lease, and no rent is subsequently received by the person
rightfully so entitled, the right of action of the last-named
person to recover the land shall be deemed to have accrued at
the date when the rent was first received by the person
wrongfully claiming as aforesaid and not at the date of the
determination of the lease.
(4) Subsections (1) and (3) shall not apply to any
tenancy at will or lease granted by the State.
10. (1) No right of action to recover land shall be
deemed to accrue unless the land is in the possession of some
person in whose favour the period of limitation can run
(hereafter in this section referred to as “adverse possession”)
and where under the foregoing provisions of this Act any
such right of action is deemed to accrue on a certain date and
no person is in adverse possession on that date, the right of
action shall not be deemed to accrue unless and until adverse
possession is taken of the land.
(2) Where a right of action to recover land has
accrued and thereafter, before the right is barred, the land
ceases to be in adverse possession, the right of action shall no
longer be deemed to have accrued and no fresh right of action
shall be deemed to accrue unless and until the land is again
taken into adverse possession.

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No right of
action to be
preserved by
formal entry or
continual
claim.
Administration
to date back to
death.

Extinction of
title after
expiration of
period.
[6 of 2011]

Limitation of
actions to
recover rent.
(3) For the purposes of this section—
(a) possession of any land subject to a
rent-charge by a person (other than
the person entitled to the rent-charge)
who does not pay the rent shall be
deemed to be adverse possession of
the rent-charge; and
(b) receipt of rent under a lease by a
person wrongfully claiming, in
accordance with subsection (3) of the
last foregoing section, the land in
reversion shall be deemed to be
adverse possession of the land.
11. For the purposes of this Act, no person shall be
deemed to have been in possession of any land by reason only
of having made a formal entry thereon, and no continual or
other claim upon or near any land shall preserve any right of
action to recover the land.
12. For the purposes of the provisions of this Act
relating to actions for the recovery of land, an administrator
of the estate of a deceased person shall be deemed to claim as
if there had been no interval of time between the death of the
deceased person and the grant of the letters of administration.
13. At the expiration of the period prescribed by this
Act for any person to bring an action to recover land, the title
of that person to the land shall be extinguished except in the
case of lands referred to in section 3 (2).
14. No action shall be brought, or distress made, to
recover arrears of rent or damages in respect thereof, after the
expiration of three years from the date on which the arrears
became due.
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Limitation of
actions in
respect of trust
property.

Limitation of
action
claiming estate
of a deceased
person.
15. (1) No period of limitation prescribed by this Act
shall apply to an action by a beneficiary under a trust, being
an action—
(a) in respect of any fraud or fraudulent
breach of trust to which the trustee
was a party or privy; or
(b) to recover from the trustee trust
property or the proceeds thereof in
the possession of the trustee, or
previously received by the trustee and
converted to his use.
(2) Subject as aforesaid, an action by a beneficiary
to recover trust property or in respect of any breach of trust,
not being an action for which a period of limitation is
prescribed by any other provision of this Act, shall not be
brought after the expiration of six years from the date on
which the right of action accrued:
Provided that the right of action shall not be
deemed to have accrued to any beneficiary entitled to a future
interest in the trust property, until the interest fell into
possession.
(3) No beneficiary as against whom there would be
a good defence under this Act shall derive any greater or
other benefit from a judgment or order obtained by any other
beneficiary than he could have obtained if he had brought
the action and this Act had been pleaded in defence.
16. Subject to section 15(1), no action in respect of any
claim to the estate of a deceased person or to any share or
interest in such estate, whether under a will or on
intestacy, shall be brought after the expiration of twelve
years from the date when the right to receive the share or
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Extension of
limitation
period.
interest accrued, and no action to recover arrears of interest in
respect of any legacy, or damages in respect of such arrears,
shall be brought after the expiration of six years from the date
on which the interest became due.
17. If on the date when any right of action accrued for
which a period of limitation is prescribed by this Act the
person to whom it accrued was under a disability, the action
may be brought at any time before the expiration of three
years from the date when the person ceased to be under a
disability or died, whichever event first occurred,
notwithstanding that the period of limitation has expired:
Provided that—
(a) this section shall not affect any case
where the right of action first
accrued to some person (not under
a disability) through whom the
person under a disability claims;
(b) when a right of action which has
accrued to a person under a disability
accrued, on the death of that person
while still under a disability, to
another person under a disability, no
further extension of time shall be
allowed by reason of the disability of
the second person;
(c) no action to recover land or money
charged on land shall be brought by
virtue of this section by any person
after the expiration of thirty years
from the date on which the right of
action accrued to that person or some
person through whom he claims;

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Fresh accrual of
action on
acknowledg-
ment.

Formal
provisions as to
acknowledge-
ments and
part payments.

Effect of
acknowledg-
ment on
persons other
than the maker.
Postponement
of limitation
period in case
of fraud or
(d) this section shall not apply to any
action to recover a penalty or
forfeiture, or sum by way thereof, by
virtue of any enactment, except where
the action is brought by an aggrieved
party.
18. Where there has accrued any right of action to
recover land and the person in possession of the land
acknowledges the title of the person to whom the right of
action has accrued, the right shall be deemed to have
accrued on and not before the date of
acknowledgment.
19. (1) Every such acknowledgment as aforesaid shall
be in writing and signed by the person making the
acknowledgment.
(2) Any such acknowledgment as aforesaid may be
made by the agent duly authorised in writing of the person
by whom it is required to be made under section 18 and shall
be made to the person or to an agent of the person whose title
is being acknowledged.
20. (1) An acknowledgment of the title to any land by
any person in possession thereof shall bind the
acknowledgement or and his successors in possession during
the ensuing period of limitation, but not any other person.
(2) An acknowledgment by one of several
personal representatives of any claim to the estate of a
deceased person or to any share or interest therein shall bind
the estate of the deceased person.
21. Where, in the case of any action for which period
of limitation is prescribed by this Act, either—
(a) the action is based upon the fraud of the mistake.
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Provisions as to
set-off or
defendant or his agent or of any person
through whom he claims or his agent; or
(b) the right of action is concealed by the fraud
of any such person as aforesaid; or
(c) the action is for relief from the consequences
of a mistake,
the period of limitation shall not begin to run until the
plaintiff has discovered the fraud or the mistake, as the case
may be, or could with reasonable diligence have discovered
it:
Provided that nothing in this section shall enable
any action to be brought to recover, or enforce any charge
against, or set aside any transaction affecting any property
which—
(i) in the case of fraud, has been
purchased for valuable
consideration by a person who
was not a party to the fraud
and did not at the time of the
purchase know or have reason
to believe that any fraud had
been committed; or
(ii) in the case of mistake, has
been purchased for valuable
consideration, subsequently to
the transaction in which the
mistake was made, by a person
who did not know or have
reason to believe that the
mistake had been made.
22. For the purposes of this Act, any claim by way of
set-off or counter-claim shall be deemed to be a separate
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counter-claim.

Acquiescence.
action and to have been commenced on the same date as the
action in which the set-off or counter-claim is pleaded.
23. Nothing in this Act shall affect any equitable
jurisdiction to refuse belief on the ground of acquiescence or
otherwise.
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