ABSTRACT
There is a strong presumption that possession is retained by the paper owner or by some person claiming through him.13 In order to succeed in a claim of adverse possession, the claimant must show ‘positively that the true owner has gone out of possession of the land, that he has left it vacant with the intention of abandoning it’.14 The mere fact that the paper owner is shown to have made no use of the land during the period does not necessarily amount to discontinuance of possession;15 nor will there be discontinuance of possession in cases where another person was in occupation of the land, if there is evidence that the paper owner intended to retain the land for some specific use at a later date.16 As Lord Denning MR said,17 the paper owner is not defeated ‘simply because some other person enters on it and uses it for some temporary ... or ... seasonal purpose ... even if this temporary or seasonal purpose continues year after year for 12 years or more’.
