ABSTRACT
As indicated above, at common law, a will of immovables had to comply with the formalities stipulated by the lex situs. The general reason for the prominence of the lex situs was that land was subject to the control of the authorities in question and it was also often the case that public policy considerations arose. Secondly, until the middle of the 19th century, land was the principal source of personal wealth and English courts were very cautious about any question concerning land in England; in these circumstances, it was inevitable that they would expect foreign courts to exercise a similar restraint. Thirdly, under the Mocambique rule, English courts would not involve themselves in disputes about title to foreign land. Fourthly, by the end of the 19th century, many countries were moving towards some form of registration of title whereby disputes as to title would be dealt with by a public authority. The officials of that body would be the final arbiters of title disputes subject to a ruling of their own courts.192 In considering testate succession to immovables, a sensible distinction can be drawn between (a) immovable property in England; and (b) foreign immovables. It is proposed to take each in turn.
