ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the effect of some of the rules relating to adverse possession of registered land under the Land Registration Act 2002 (LRA 2002) and the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPOA 2012) including human rights based objections to section 144. Section 144 of the LASPOA 2012 extends the state protection to registered title in land even further by criminalising squatting in a 'residential building'. Nevertheless, following the LASPOA 2012 the criminal law ostensibly contradicts the traditional civil law position which recognises the property interest of a squatter as being valid and worthy of state protection. Traditionally, the courts have been chary of retrospective laws which 'alter the future legal consequences of past actions and events'. The Judicial Guidance notes that squatters may commit an offence under section 13 of the Theft Act 1968 if they 'abstract electricity' dishonestly and without due authority.
