Mind the gap! Payment of price and transfer of title
Author | S.A.A. Cooper |
Position | Visiting Professor of Law at Stetson University Dr. Cooper, formerly of the Cayman Islands Law School, is presently Reader in Law, Oxford Brooks University, United Kingdom |
Pages | 31-41 |
MIND
THE
GAP!
PAYMENT
OF
PRICE
AND
TRANSFER
OF
TITLE
Precision
Developments
Ltd
v.
Jeanette
Caribbean
Company
Ltd
S.A.A.
COOPER
*
*
Dr
S.A.A.
Cooper,
Visiting
Professor
of
Law
at
Stetson
University
Dr.
Cooper,
formerly
of
the
Cayman
Islands
Law
School,
is
presently
Reader
in
Law,
Oxford
Brooks
University,
United
Kingdom.
The
author
would
like
to
record
his
gratitude
to
the
Faculty
at
Stetson
for
their
kind
assistance
with
research
facilities.
1
Modern
Privy
Council
appeals
from
the
Caribbean
alone
include
Workers
Trust
and
Merchant
Bank.
Ltd
v
Dojap
Investments
Ltd
[1993]
2
WLR
702;
Racoon
Ltd
v
Turnbull
[1997)
AC
158;
Ho
Young
v
Bess
[1995]
1
WLR
350;
British
American
Cattle
Co
Ltd
v
Caribe
Farm
Industries
Ltd
[1998]
1
WLR
1529;
Gardener
v
Lewis
[1998]
1
WLR
1535.
2
Precision
Developments
Ltd
v
Jeanette
Caribbean
Company
Ltd
(Unreported,
Supreme
Court
of
thae
Turks
and
Caicos
Islands,
Christopher
Gardner
QC,
Chief
Justice,
22
February,
2007).
The
common
law
does
not
stop
at
the
borders
of
England
but
pervades
the
former
colonies
and
the
remaining
overseas
territories.
It
is
not
at
all
rare
to
find
stimulating
conveyancing
judgments
from
the
colonies,
1
particularly
because
their
divergent
practices
may
require
a
consideration
of
basic
legal
principles
that
are
not
so
common
in
England
under
its
regime
of
standardized
professional
protocols.
The
decision
in
Precision
Developments
Ltd
v
Jeanette
Caribbean
Company
Ltd
2
raises
some
fundamentals
points
of
conveyancing
law
that
deserve
exploration
and
reflection.
As
often
occurs
in
decisions
from
smaller
jurisdictions,
the
absence
of
established
guidelines
from
legal
professional
associations
forced
a
consideration
of
the
foundational
legal
propositions
underpinning
everyday
conveyancing
practice.
In
a
substantial
judgment
relating
to
a
multi-million
dollar
resort
development,
the
Supreme
Court
of
the
Turks
and
Caicos
Islands
determined
whether
a
vendor
had
validly
withdrawn
from
a
contract
against
the
wishes
of
the
purchaser
who
sought
to
proceed
with
the
agreement
via
an
order
for
specific
performance.
While
dealing
with
various
specific
matters
concerning
the
interpretation
of
the
sale
contract,
the
decision
is
of
interest
because
of
comments
concerning
the
legal
requirements
of
the
purchasers
performance
(through
payment
of
the
purchase
price)
the
steps
required
of
conveyancing
lawyers
to
ensure
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