Sale of Tso land to a member whose equitable interest may have been extinguished as a result of adverse possession

In Wong Shing Chau v To Kwok Keung ([2008] HKEC 969, CA) D (and his family) had been in possession of land since 1972. A Tso was the formal owner of title to the land but there was no doubt that D had had the necessary possession and intention to possess since 1972. In 1996, the Tso sold the land to P (a member of the Tso). P now sought possession of the land. P succeeded. The Court of Appeal referred to Leung Kuen Fai v Tang Kwong Yu and approved the reasoning in that case ([9] – [11]). New members of the Tso had been born since 1972. There were members whose interests had not been extinguished and so the Tso’s title was still alive. Thus, the title acquired by P in 1996 had not been extinguished.

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