Commentary on Sections Overview of sections 43 to 45: prescriptive claimants Section 45: Notification of prescriptive applications
128.This section provides for further notification to the underlying true owner of property in advance of the acceptance of an application to become a prescriptive claimant. This extends the procedure in section 14 of the Land Registration (Scotland) Act 1979 that provided for the Keeper to notify the Crown Estate Commissioners of applications of foreshore subjects. Subsection (1) requires the underlying owner (who may be the Crown) to be notified by the Keeper. Such notification only requires to be done in the instance when there is not already a prescriptive claim to the title in question.
129.Subsection (2) provides that the duty on the Keeper in subsection (1) does not need to be carried out when it is not reasonably practicable to do so.
130.Subsections (4) and (5) ensure the underlying owner is given 60 days to veto an application for a person to become a prescriptive claimant over their land.