The King V Smail Golden Jubilee: The Failure Of The High Court "To Develop And Clarify The Law" Of The Torrens Volunteer Is No Cause For Jubilation

The year 2008 marked the 150th and 50th anniversaries respectively of the original South Australian Torrens registered land title statute and the Victorian Supreme Court decision in King v Smail. The year before the High Court of Australia had rendered its unanimous decision in Farah Constructions. The King decision was doubtful law even though it was decided a decade before the Privy Council and the High Court pronounced upon the issue of immediate indefeasibility of registered title. It is now 13 years since the High Court, in Farah, articulated upon the immediate indefeasibility of title of the registered volunteer. It is a cause for regret that the High Court in Farah and the later case of Cassegrain has not availed itself of the limited opportunity to expressly decide upon the indefeasibility (or otherwise) of the title of the registered volunteer throughout the Australian Torrens jurisdictions.