The Torrens System has many advantages over the English deeds system.

Our country, Malaysia has a long history in its reformation of land law and land administration. Before the English colonizer came into Malay States, the land law at that time had been influenced by Islamic Law and Customary Law where the Malay society applied them in their daily life after the 15th century. The acceptance of Islam by Malay society consequence in the absorption of Islamic Law into Customary Law. Implementation of Islamic Law into land law clearly been mentioned through the judgement by Maxwell C.J in Sahrip v. Mitchell & Anor case:

"It is well-known that by the old Malay law or custom of Malacca,while the Sovereign was the owner of the soil, every man had nevertheless the right to clear and occupy all forest and waste land subject to the payment to the Sovereign of one-tenth of the produce of the land so taken".

From the judgement, we may see the concepts which link to the Islamic Land Law principle such as the nature of ‘ownership right’ where in Islam everything is belong to Allah and the human only entrusted to manage it, ‘ihya al-mawat’ which related to the need to maintain the land under cultivation and the uncultivated land will be acquired, and ‘usyur’ where the responsibility to pay one-tenth of the produce of the land to the Ruler. Besides, there are also several kind of Customary Law which are parallel to the Islamic Land Law as we can see in a joint matrimonial property or ‘harta sepencarian’, the transaction of ‘jual janji’ where the land made as security to get the money in specific period, and the ‘pulang belanja’ where a man maybe does not own the land but he can work on it as long as it benefit the public. The introduction of the new land law system by English colonizer ended the implementation of Islamic Land Law and opened the new history of land law to our country, Malaysia. Two system that been brought by the Englishman into this country are Torrens System and English Deeds System. Here, we will discuss the advantages of the Torrens System over the English Deeds System and the arguments on it.

The Torrens System was originated from South Australia, drafted by the then Sir Robert Torrens. This system ensured the indefeasibility of title to the land registration and its transaction where it overcomes the uncertainty in land proprietorship. The land title will be formally provided in duplicate, one will remained with the Land Office or Land Registry Office, while the another one will be kept by the land owner. Different from Torrens System, English Deeds System refers the deed itself is registered. The deed does not reflect the proprietorship and the chain of proprietorship has to be traced back by the land owners, which means back to the earliest grant of land by the Crown to its first owner. So, from here we will understand that the Torrens System involves the registration of title while the English Deeds System involves the chain of proprietorship.

However, from the different concepts between Torrens System and
English Deeds System, we will find out more advantages of Torrens System over the English Deeds System. The Torrens System consists two main principles which made it based entirely on registration, known as mirror principle and curtain principle. Mirror principle shows the title functioned as a mirror that informs every important item about the land to any relevant parties that involved such as purchaser-to-be or mortgagee-to-be.
Meanwhile, the curtain principle referred the title as the curtain where any parties that involved in the land transaction only required to depend on all information contain in it so there is no need for them to find other information except from the title. These dual principles form the concept of ‘indefeasibility of title’ that been clearly recognized in the Section 340(1) of National Land Code 1965. Compare to English Deeds System, the system based on the principle ‘nemo dat quod non habet’ (no one gives what he does not have) where it needs search of the chain of deeds that may involving hundred of years and probably intervened by many changes in land proprietorship so it will results the slow process of land transaction which will cost time and more money.

In Torrens System, the land administration works effectively and efficiently without any distraction. Land dealings such as transfer, lease, mortgage, lien and easement will be registered in the title which assists the Government to control or detect any doubt in land dealing that may lead to the speculation in land transaction. People that involved in land dealings do not have to waste too much time in title search. The Land Office or Land Registry Office has the duplicate of titles with them so it will ease the people involved. In the case of land acquisition that the Government has to acquire any possible land for the purpose of public benefit, the Government will pays the compensation for those whose land is affected by the acquisition.

Although we found that the Torrens System has many advantages, some critics or questions have arisen around the system. The most important issue been debated is about the indefeasibility of title. We review back at the Adorna Properties Sdn Bhd v. Boonsom Boonyanit @ Sun Yok Eng case. The Federal Court in year 2000 made a shocking decision that clearly sided the appellant (Adorna Properties Sdn Bhd), where even if forgery occurred in the instrument of transfer, the bona fide purchaser ‘obtained an indefeasible title to the said lands’. Boonsom Boonyanit lost her land in Tanjung Bungah, Penang when a woman, impersonating her transferred the land to Adorna Properties Sdn Bhd. She fought for her right on the land until took her up to the three-tier Malaysian judicial system. Boonyanit lost her bid in the High Court but won her appeal in the Court of Appeal. Adorna Properties Sdn Bhd appeal to Federal Court and the nation’s highest decision really upset Boonyanit when the Federal Court recognized the right of bona fide purchaser although forgery occurred. The Federal Court’s decision clearly opposite the Section 340(2)(b) of National Land Code 1965 that state the defeasibility of title because of forgery. From the case, it leaves us with the question of how secure is our system of land tenure. Or we can ask how a good law made an innocent woman the victim. Why punished the innocent land owner? This makes us unhappy and feels doubt in the land law that based on the Torrens System in our country. What is wrong with the system? The registered land owner like Boonsom Boonyanit should continue to be protected as what Government insures of proprietorship and security of tenure.

Another major issue related to the Torrens System is on the squatter’s right. We can see it in the Sidek & Ors. v. The Government of Perak & Ors case. Raja Azlan Shah C.J in this case made the judgement that stated the squatters have no right either in law or in equity; it is an offence to occupy a land illegally under Section 48 and Section 425 in National Land Code 1965 which parallel to the concept in Torrens System. Actually, when we look this case from the perspective of humanity, the State Government should consider their action before decided to evict them. The squatters, even though they were illegally occupied the land, but they also have the right as a Malaysian. Based on the Article 13 in Federal Constitution, every people have the right to own property. The State Government also must take into account their responsibility to look after the welfare of the people and act on justice principle, not just thinking about their interest. The same case also happened in Selayang Raya Development Sdn Bhd v. 123 Persons . What the State Government can do is to absorb the ‘ihya al-mawat’ concept (a concept in Islamic Land Law principle) as the solution so the squatters can live on the land as long as they cultivate it.

As the conclusion, from the long discussion on the topic of Torrens System, we must admit that this system has many advantages over the English Deeds System. Torrens System constructs the more appropriate method in the land administration compare to English Deeds System and has the large impact in our National Land Code 1965. We understand that the concept of Torrens System does not opposite the Islamic Land Law. In the context of Malaysia, what we need now is the reformation on the implementation of Torrens System. The Government has the big responsibility to insure the security of land tenure so the people do not have any doubt on the possibility of losing their title in the future. The squatter’s problem also should be overcome if the Torrens System can be assimilating with the Islamic Land Law. More important thing that must be remind here is the Government role to ensure all people get their right in the name of justice.