Statutory Property: Is it a Thing?

Over the last several decades there has been a proliferation of property-type rights created by statute, particularly in the environmental management context. A key question has been how to approach these rights on a principled basis, particularly where Parliament has been silent about their precise nature. One response has been to put a gloss on these rights by classifying them as a new category of "statutory property". However, this article suggests that we should recognise that these types of rights are private property. This argument is based on the premise that private property serves a variety of social goals and not only individualistic ones. As a result, the institution of property is flexible enough to cater for the main concern driving this legislative vagueness, which flows from the risk that recognising rights as private property may serve to undermine the purpose for which property is being employed. This article develops this point with reference to legislation setting up individual transferable quota for fish and emissions units for greenhouse gases in New Zealand. It argues that the rights used by these schemes, although not explicitly articulated as private property, should be treated as such. It suggests that, providing the contours of the right have been structured carefully and the boundaries of the right clearly demarcated, it is desirable that the law of property fill in any resulting gaps not addressed by the legislation

A Timely Reminder of the Importance of Land Law Principles

This article considers a recent New Zealand land law case of Jin v Knox Property Investment Ltd [2015] NZHC 2296, [2016] NZCA 565. The author notes that all of the numerous judges and counsel involved failed to consider the importance of the Land Transfer Act to the resolution of the dispute at the heart of the case. If this had been considered the case would have easily dismissed. The article observes that this is an example of a disturbing trend in New Zealand’s law and that, in light of the enactment of the Land Transfer Act 2017, it is timely to remember the importance of basic land law principles

Living in Interesting Times: Landonline, Leader in its Field at What Cost?

The defining feature of conveyancing practice in the twenty-first century will be the utilisation of electronic means to lodge data, to register dealings, and to record changes to title. The purpose of this paper is to explore the changes to the conveyancing system ushered in by the advent of an automated register. The author focuses on two areas of particular interest. First, what it the potential for, and effect of, fraud or mistake under the automated register? Second, what are the consequences of a technical failure? The paper concludes that while the automated registry has the potential to be a success, some changes must be made to ensure that the system is still guaranteed by the State, not the individual user, and can respond in the event that it is inoperable for any period of time

Statutory Property: Is It a Thing?

Over the last several decades there has been a proliferation of property-type rights created by statute, particularly in the environmental management context. A key question has been how to approach these rights on a principled basis, particularly where Parliament has been silent about their precise nature. One response has been to put a gloss on these rights by classifying them as a new category of "statutory property". However, this article suggests that we should recognise that these types of rights are private property. This argument is based on the premise that private property serves a variety of social goals and not only individualistic ones. As a result, the institution of property is flexible enough to cater for the main concern driving this legislative vagueness, which flows from the risk that recognising rights as private property may serve to undermine the purpose for which property is being employed. This article develops this point with reference to legislation setting up individual transferable quota for fish and emissions units for greenhouse gases in New Zealand. It argues that the rights used by these schemes, although not explicitly articulated as private property, should be treated as such. It suggests that, providing the contours of the right have been structured carefully and the boundaries of the right clearly demarcated, it is desirable that the law of property fill in any resulting gaps not addressed by the legislation

"Property Purgatory"

Climate change will place increasing numbers of homeowners in ‘property purgatory’, a state of financial insecurity arising from the foreseeability of eventual damage and uncertainty about means to recover their losses. The impacts of climate change-induced sea level rise and storm events are now certain, and exposed properties will likely incur insurance, mortgage and value loss. These effects could occur prior to physical damage, and existing inequities will be magnified. Current legal and institutional arrangements offer no clear pathway for those affected to recover funds in order to relocate themselves. We position property purgatory as an immediate practical challenge for those affected seeking to recover their losses, and as a legal question regarding undefined responsibilities of central and local government

Damage, Destruction, Distress: Shared Ownership Debacles

Shared ownership models of land use are part and parcel of our modern environment. In order to build high density, vibrant cities it is important to appreciate the types of problems that can occur where there is shared ownership on a single title of land. This article explores some of these problems, beginning with cross leases. After outlining the history, principles and essential characteristics of cross leases the article suggests that many of these problems could have been avoided if proposals made by the Law Commission in 1999 had been adopted. The article then analyses the Unit Titles Act 2010, aspects of which are working well, despite public concern about its effectiveness. However, there are a number of situations, especially in relation to insurance entitlements, where the Act does not apply, such as liability in negligence where damage has occurred to commercial or multiple use buildings and the role of contributory negligence. In situations of mixed commercial and residential use, problems arise as a result of definitional issues across a range of legislation, such as the Earthquake Commission Act 1993 and the Weathertight Homes Resolution Services Act 2006. Without careful consideration, the unintended consequences of these issues may well create impediments to building more vibrant cities. Finally, the article notes that central to any vibrant city will be the well-being of its residents. Both the cross lease and unit title models pose challenges in this sphere and careful thought should be given to balancing both the affordability and environmental benefits of higher density living with the need for all ages and types of people to be able to live together with easy access to services and open space

Repairs, Renovation, Restoration, Demolition or Replacement or Multi-Dwelling Units on a Single Title

Our research team (the authors of this paper and Professor Jacinta Ruru) based at the School of Law, University of Canterbury and the Faculty of Law, University of Otago has been granted funding from the Building Research Levy through the New Zealand Building Research Association New Zealand (BRANZ) and the New Zealand Law Foundation to investigate the problems that have occurred with repairs, renovation, restoration, demolition or replacement of multi-dwelling units on a single title (for example, unit titles, cross leases, retirement villages and papakainga housing, or units or buildings where mixed commercial or industrial use is combined with residential use). Although the most obvious examples of events that trigger a need for such repair or restoration have been natural disasters (for example, the Christchurch earthquakes) and buildings that have been affected by New Zealand’s “leaky home” syndrome, problems may also be encountered on a much smaller scale with fires or other triggering events. This paper explains our methodology and reveals some of our early findings

Prognostic model to predict postoperative acute kidney injury in patients undergoing major gastrointestinal surgery based on a national prospective observational cohort study.

Background: Acute illness, existing co-morbidities and surgical stress response can all contribute to postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients undergoing major gastrointestinal surgery. The aim of this study was prospectively to develop a pragmatic prognostic model to stratify patients according to risk of developing AKI after major gastrointestinal surgery. Methods: This prospective multicentre cohort study included consecutive adults undergoing elective or emergency gastrointestinal resection, liver resection or stoma reversal in 2-week blocks over a continuous 3-month period. The primary outcome was the rate of AKI within 7 days of surgery. Bootstrap stability was used to select clinically plausible risk factors into the model. Internal model validation was carried out by bootstrap validation. Results: A total of 4544 patients were included across 173 centres in the UK and Ireland. The overall rate of AKI was 14·2 per cent (646 of 4544) and the 30-day mortality rate was 1·8 per cent (84 of 4544). Stage 1 AKI was significantly associated with 30-day mortality (unadjusted odds ratio 7·61, 95 per cent c.i. 4·49 to 12·90; P < 0·001), with increasing odds of death with each AKI stage. Six variables were selected for inclusion in the prognostic model: age, sex, ASA grade, preoperative estimated glomerular filtration rate, planned open surgery and preoperative use of either an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or an angiotensin receptor blocker. Internal validation demonstrated good model discrimination (c-statistic 0·65). Discussion: Following major gastrointestinal surgery, AKI occurred in one in seven patients. This preoperative prognostic model identified patients at high risk of postoperative AKI. Validation in an independent data set is required to ensure generalizability

Mortality and pulmonary complications in patients undergoing surgery with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection: an international cohort study

Background: The impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on postoperative recovery needs to be understood to inform clinical decision making during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This study reports 30-day mortality and pulmonary complication rates in patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: This international, multicentre, cohort study at 235 hospitals in 24 countries included all patients undergoing surgery who had SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed within 7 days before or 30 days after surgery. The primary outcome measure was 30-day postoperative mortality and was assessed in all enrolled patients. The main secondary outcome measure was pulmonary complications, defined as pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, or unexpected postoperative ventilation. Findings: This analysis includes 1128 patients who had surgery between Jan 1 and March 31, 2020, of whom 835 (74·0%) had emergency surgery and 280 (24·8%) had elective surgery. SARS-CoV-2 infection was confirmed preoperatively in 294 (26·1%) patients. 30-day mortality was 23·8% (268 of 1128). Pulmonary complications occurred in 577 (51·2%) of 1128 patients; 30-day mortality in these patients was 38·0% (219 of 577), accounting for 81·7% (219 of 268) of all deaths. In adjusted analyses, 30-day mortality was associated with male sex (odds ratio 1·75 [95% CI 1·28–2·40], p\textless0·0001), age 70 years or older versus younger than 70 years (2·30 [1·65–3·22], p\textless0·0001), American Society of Anesthesiologists grades 3–5 versus grades 1–2 (2·35 [1·57–3·53], p\textless0·0001), malignant versus benign or obstetric diagnosis (1·55 [1·01–2·39], p=0·046), emergency versus elective surgery (1·67 [1·06–2·63], p=0·026), and major versus minor surgery (1·52 [1·01–2·31], p=0·047). Interpretation: Postoperative pulmonary complications occur in half of patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection and are associated with high mortality. Thresholds for surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic should be higher than during normal practice, particularly in men aged 70 years and older. Consideration should be given for postponing non-urgent procedures and promoting non-operative treatment to delay or avoid the need for surgery. Funding: National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland, Bowel and Cancer Research, Bowel Disease Research Foundation, Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons, British Association of Surgical Oncology, British Gynaecological Cancer Society, European Society of Coloproctology, NIHR Academy, Sarcoma UK, Vascular Society for Great Britain and Ireland, and Yorkshire Cancer Research

A Timely Reminder of the Importance of Land Law Principles

This article considers a recent New Zealand land law case of Jin v Knox Property Investment Ltd [2015] NZHC 2296, [2016] NZCA 565. The author notes that all of the numerous judges and counsel involved failed to consider the importance of the Land Transfer Act to the resolution of the dispute at the heart of the case. If this had been considered the case would have easily dismissed. The article observes that this is an example of a disturbing trend in New Zealand’s law and that, in light of the enactment of the Land Transfer Act 2017, it is timely to remember the importance of basic land law principles