Table of Contents

Introduction Part I: Australian Land Law and the Meaning of Radical Title Pre-Mabo Chapter One: The Origin and Application of the Doctrine of Absolute Crown Ownership in Australia: The Common Law 1788–1992 I The Feudal Basis of Land Law in England II The Reception of Land Law into the Australian Colonies III Conclusion Chapter Two: The Meaning of Radical Title Pre-Mabo I The Meaning of Radical Title: The Leading Privy Council Authorities (Re)Examined II International v Municipal Law: American Authority III New Zealand Authority IV Conclusion Part II: The Doctrine of Tenure and the Juridical Consequences of the Colonial Law Classification of an 'Inhabited' Colony as 'Settled' Re-examined Post-Mabo Chapter Three: The Doctrine of Tenure and the Common Law Consequences of the Classification of an 'Inhabited' Colony as 'Settled' Post-Mabo: Emergence of the Doctrine of Tenure ad Veritatem and the Doctrine of Continuity Pro-Tempore I Radical Title as the Postulate of the Doctrine of Tenure ad Veritatem II The Reception of Land Law into the Australian Colonies Revisited III Post-Mabo Developments IV Conclusion Part III: The Meaning of Radical Title in Post-Mabo Australian Jurisprudence Chapter Four: Radical Title and Unalienated Land Post-Mabo I Automatic Expansion of Radical Title in Respect of Original Unalienated Land: Brennan J's Reliance on the 'No Other Proprietor' Principle (Radical Title as a Concomitant of Sovereignty) II Automatic Expansion of Radical Title in Respect of Currently Unalienated Land: Brennan J's 'Reversion Expectant' Argument (Radical Title as Both the Postulate of the Doctrine of Tenure and a Concomitant of Sovereignty) III Extinguishment of Native Title by Crown Grant IV Native Title Legislation: Implications for Property Rights to Currently Unalienated Land V Conclusion Chapter Five: Radical Title: Lessons from the Sea I The Crown's Title to the Territorial Seabed and Beyond: The Position Before Mabo II The Crown's Title to the Territorial Seabed and Beyond Post-Mabo: WMC and YarmirrFC III Summary IV Yarmirr: The High Court V Post-Yarmirr Developments VI Conclusion Part IV: The Practical Implications of the Crown's Radical Title Chapter Six: Crown Acquisition of a Plenary Title: The Common Law Record Requirement and Statutory Regimes Regulating the Alienation of Land I Occupancy as a Basis of Original Crown Ownership II The Record Requirement III Crown Land Statutes: Statutory Definition of 'Crown Land' IV Legislative Provisions Dealing with the Power to Legislate Regarding Crown Land V Conclusion Chapter Seven: The Doctrine of Common Law Aboriginal Customary Title in Australia and Implications for South Africa I Aboriginal Customary Law: A Source of Non-Derivative Common Law Title to Land II First Limb of the Doctrine of Common Law Aboriginal Customary Title: Title Arising After Acquisition of Sovereignty III Second Limb of the Doctrine of Common Law Aboriginal Customary Title: Title Arising Before Acquisition of Sovereignty IV Doctrinal Underpinnings for Aboriginal Customary Title V Aboriginal Customary Law as a Source of Non-Derivative Common Law Title to Land in Ceded and Conquered Colonies: South Africa Post-Richtersveld VI Conclusion Chapter Eight: Canada: Application and Implications of the Doctrine of Common Law Aboriginal Customary Title I The Reception of Law in Canada: the Constitutional Status of the Canadian Provinces and Territories Reconsidered II The Doctrine of Tenure, Radical Title and Aboriginal Land Rights in Canada III Bipartite Colonial Contexts – Quebec and Aboriginal Title IV Conclusion Conclusions

About the Author

Ulla Secher is a Visiting Fellow with the Faculty of Law at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. She was admitted as a Barrister of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 1998.

Reviews

the author has done an impressive job at articulating her thesis in a straightforward yet sophisticated style. Her comprehensive re-evaluation of relevant case law and her analysis of Mabo shows a depth of knowledge which flows through the entire book. Her meticulous research and attention to detail is clearly evident. Reading this book is well worth the effort; the reader will come away with a new perspective on Mabo, and a fresh outlook on the future of Indigenous land rights. I would agree with Kent McNeil’s description in the foreword that it is ‘a formidable contribution’.
*Alternative Law Journal*