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Course Syllabus (Spring Term 2016):

Property Law (LAW 231.002 T2)

- January 2, 2016 -

Course Description: This course will introduce students to a broad range of topics
in the area of property law. Beginning with an exploration of the nature of property,
this class will proceed, in the Fall Term, by analyzing a number of discrete property-
related topics. In the Spring Term, we will focus in depth on Aboriginal title and
registration of property interests. As in the Fall Term, the Spring Term will also
feature analysis of a number of discrete topics. This course will provide students
with an introduction to the major areas of property law, and to the basic principles
that govern this area of law. It will also provide students with the tools through
which they can engage in further study in areas of the law that touch upon or relate
to property law issues, such as intellectual property law, real estate transactions,
family law, wills and estates, trusts, municipal law, planning law, family law,
environmental law, and Aboriginal law.

Instructor:
Professor Graham Reynolds
[email protected]
(604) 822-5559
Office #449, Allard Hall

Format:
Course

Credits:
5 credits (for full-year course)

Class location and times:

Allard Hall

Tuesdays from 9-10:30am in Rm 122 (Term 2 (spring term))

Thursdays from 9-10:30am in Rm 122 (Term 2 (spring term))

Class makeup time is scheduled for Tuesdays from 12:30-2pm.

Office hours:
Unless notified differently by email, my office hours are Mondays from 12:30-
1:30pm, but I am available at other times by appointment (or just drop by). Email
questions are welcome.

Evaluation:
You will write two exams, one during the December examination period and one
during the April examination period.
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Your December exam is a “fail-safe” exam. This means that if your December exam
mark is less than or equal to your April exam mark, then your April exam mark will
be your final mark in the course. However, if your December exam mark is greater
than your April exam mark, then your December exam mark will count for 25% of
your final mark and your April exam mark will count for 75% of your final mark.

You have the option of handwriting your exams or using the computerized exam
software, ExamSoft. Detailed information on the use of ExamSoft can be found on
the UBC Law website at: http://law.ubc.ca/current/jd/comp_exams/index.html.

Both the December and April exams will be open book exams. There are no
restrictions on the notes or materials that you may bring into the exam.

Materials:
There is one required casebook for this course, namely:

Bruce H. Ziff, Jeremy de Beer, Douglas Harris, Margaret McCallum, A Property Law
Reader: Cases, Questions and Commentary, 3rd ed (Toronto: Carswell, 2012)
(Reader). This casebook is available for purchase at the UBC Bookstore.

I will supplement this casebook with additional materials throughout the year.

Additional texts that you may find helpful are:

Marjorie Benson, Marie-Ann Bowden and Dwight Newman, Understanding Property:

A Guide to Canada’s Property Law, 2d ed (Toronto: Carswell, 2008).

Bruce Ziff, Principles of Property Law, 6th ed (Toronto: Carswell, 2014).

John J Borrows and Leonard I Rotman, Aboriginal Legal Issues, 4th ed (Markham:
LexisNexis, 2012).

It is not mandatory to purchase these additional texts, all of which are available in
the Law Library reference room.

Examination Accommodations and Deferrals:

Students requesting an examination accommodation or deferral should obtain from
and submit forms to the Assistant Dean, Students, who will coordinate with the
Chair of the Examinations Committee. Individual faculty may not grant examination
accommodations.

Accommodating Students with Disabilities:

Students requiring accommodations on exams or assignments pursuant to a
disability, or requiring arrangements for classroom assistance pursuant to a
disability, should contact the Disability Resource Centre (DRC) at Access & Diversity,
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located in Brock Hall. The DRC will assess all accommodation requests and make all
accommodation decisions. Instructors are not permitted to assess or adjudicate
individual students’ requests for accommodation.

Email communication/Connect:

During the term I may send emails out to the entire class. These emails will be sent
through the Faculty Service Centre to the email addresses that students have
registered with the Student Service Centre website (SSC). Please read these emails.
Students will be deemed to have received course information sent by email.

A classroom space has also been set up on Connect. I will be uploading the lists of
required reading material and additional resources to this classroom space. I may
also upload other information and resources, including the class syllabus.

Academic Misconduct/Plagiarism:
All UBC law students are subject to the University's rules on Academic Misconduct
(http://vpacademic.ubc.ca/integrity/ubc-regulation-on-plagiarism/), and are
expected to act with academic integrity at all times. Students should be especially
aware of the University's rules in relation to plagiarism. If you plagiarize, you may
be subject to penalties set out in the UBC calendar:
(http://www.calendar.ubc.ca/vancouver/index.cfm?tree=3,54,111,959)

If you would like to learn more about academic misconduct, visit the UBC Library's
website on academic integrity (http://learningcommons.ubc.ca/guide-to-academic-
integrity/). Examples of academic misconduct can also be found in the UBC Annual
Report on Student Discipline (http://universitycounsel.ubc.ca/discipline/).

UBC subscribes to a service called TurnItIn which is a website that checks for the
originality of material. This is a password-protected site that is increasingly used in
North American universities.

The information provided here and further details about TurnItIn can be found
online at:
http://vpacademic.ubc.ca/integrity/turnitin-at-ubc/

TurnItIn may be used to verify the originality of your work.

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Schedule of classes and topics of readings (Spring Term):

# Date Topic Readings

1 Tuesday, Discussion of exam No readings
January 5
2 Thursday, Common law Reader, 367-390
January 7 estates (fee simple,
fee tail, life estates) Property Law Act, RSBC 1996, c. 377,
ss. 10, 19

Land Title Act, RSBC 1996, c. 250, s.

186(4) – (8)

Wills, Estates and Succession Act, SBC

2009, c. 13, s. 41(3)
3 Tuesday, Common law Reader, 390-400
January 12 estates (continued)
Law and Equity Act, RSBC 1996, c. 253,
s. 11
4 Thursday, Mortgages Reader, 847-853
January 14
5 Tuesday, Succession Wills, Estates and Succession Act, SBC
January 19 2009, c. 13 (WESA), ss. 1, 2, 5, 6, 9, 10,
20-33

British Columbia Ministry of Justice,

“Part 2 – Fundamental Rules”, available
online:
http://www.ag.gov.bc.ca/legislation/s
hareddocs/wesa/Part2.pdf

British Columbia Ministry of Justice,

“Part 3 – When a Person Dies Without
a Will”, available online:
http://www.ag.gov.bc.ca/legislation/s
hareddocs/wesa/Part3.pdf

*You are only responsible for reviewing

the parts of the two documents above
that relate to the assigned statutory
provisions in WESA
6 Tuesday, Visit to cesnaem at “cesnaʔem: the city before the city”
January 19 the Museum of (MOA)
(from 12:30- Anthropology http://www.thecitybeforethecity.com
2pm; meet
inside the
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entrance to
the Museum
of
Anthropology
)
7 Thursday, Land Title Reader, 897-905 & 917-921
January 21 Registration:
(joint class common law Harris, review of Taylor, The Law of
given by priorities and title the Land: The Advent of the Torrens
Professor registration System in Canada (2010)
Harris in Rm. (http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.c
105) fm?abstract_id=1676401)

Land Title Act, RSBC 1996, c 250, ss 20,

23(2), 29(2), 37(1), 296(2)

Land Title Survey Authority, Electronic

Form Templates
(http://ltsa.ca/practice-
information/land-title-forms)
8 Tuesday, Land Title Reader 929-938
January 26 Registration:
(joint class Indefeasible title Harris, “Indefeasible Title in British
given by and fraud Columbia” (2006)
Professor (http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.c
Harris in Rm. fm?abstract_id=1410154)
105)
Land Title Act, s. 54

Land Title Act, ss. 20, 23(2), 25.1,

25(2), 296(2)
9 Thursday, Land Title Land Title Act, ss. 1, 23(2), 25.1, 26,
January 28 Registration: 27(3), 197, 297
(joint class registration of
given by charges Credit Foncier v. Bennett,
Professor http://faculty.law.ubc.ca/harris/docu
Harris in Rm. ments/property/credit_foncier.pdf
105)
Gill v. Bucholtz,
http://www.canlii.org/en/bc/bcca/do
c/2009/2009bcca137/2009bcca137.ht
ml

Harris & Mickelson, “Finding Nemo Dat

in the Land Title Act” (2012)
(http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.c
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fm?abstract_id=2022570)
10 Tuesday, Land Title Reader, 938-953
February 2 Registration: title
(joint class registration and the Land Title Act, s. 29
given by abolition of notice
Professor Harris & Au, “Title Registration and the
Harris in Rm. Abolition of Notice” (2014)
105) (http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.c
fm?abstract_id=2457258)
11 Thursday, Leases (common Reader, 609-620; 633-646
February 4 law)
Land Title Act, RSBC 1996, c. 250, s.
247 (LTA)
12 Tuesday, Residential Reader, 660-661
February 9 tenancies
Residential Tenancy Act, SBC 2002, c.
78, ss. 1, 4-7, 12-20, 22-35, 37-39, 43-
47. 49-52, 57-60, 62, 63, 65-70, 91,
94.1, 94.11, 94.2, 95, and 96

Residential Tenancy Regulation, BC Reg

477/2003, ss. 4, 5, 7, 11-13, 22-23 and
Schedule
13 Thursday, Mid-term review No readings
February 11
--- Tuesday, No classes – No classes – reading week
February 16 reading week
--- Thursday, No classes – No classes – reading week
February 18 reading week
14 Tuesday, Qualified interests Reader, 527-551
February 23 and future interests
(introduction, basic
concepts, state
limits on private
power)
15 Tuesday, Qualified transfers Reader, 551-574
February 23 and future interests
(from 12:30- (state limits on
2pm in Rm private power)
123)
16 Thursday, History of Reader, 403-409
February 25 Aboriginal title, and
Aboriginal land Royal Proclamation, 1763
rights in British (http://indigenousfoundations.arts.ub
Columbia c.ca/home/government-policy/royal-
proclamation-1763.html)
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Douglas Treaties, 1850-54

(http://www.aadnc-
aandc.gc.ca/eng/1370373165583/137
0373202340)

British Columbia Terms of Union,

1871, Article 13
(http://www.ubcic.bc.ca/files/html/M
cKennaMcBride/bctu.html)

Constitution Act, 1867, ss 91(24), 109

(https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/laws/s
tat/30---31-vict-c-3/latest/30---31-
vict-c-3.html)

Constitution Act, 1982, s 35,

“Aboriginal and Treaty Rights”
(http://laws-
lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/Const/Index.htm
l)

Musqueam Declaration, June 10th,

1976
(http://www.musqueam.bc.ca/sites/d
efault/files/musqueam_declaration.pdf
)
17 Tuesday, Delgamuukw v. Reader, 88-104, 409-431
March 1 British Columbia
18 Thursday, Tsilhqot’in Nation v. Tsilhqot’in Nation v British Columbia,
March 3 British Columbia 2014 SCC 44, paras. 1-97

TBA
19 Tuesday, Property rights on Reader, 446-449
March 8 reserves & Nisga’a
Nation property John J Borrows and Leonard I Rotman,
interests Aboriginal Legal Issues: Cases, Materials
& Commentary, 4th ed (Markham:
LexisNexis, 2012), pp. 47-51, available
on Connect in Library Reserve section

Indian Act, RSC., 1985, c. I-5, s. 20.

Borrows and Rotman, pp. 65-90,

available on Connect in Library
Reserve section
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Nisga’a Final Agreement, chapters 1, 3-

4, 6 available online:
http://www.nnkn.ca/files/u28/nis-
eng.pdf
20 Thursday, Concurrent Reader, 695-715 (up to equitable
March 10 interests accounting); 717-721

Property Law Act, RSBC 1996, c. 377,

ss. 18(1), 18(3)

Partition of Property Act, RSBC 1996, c.

347, ss. 2(1), 2(2), 4(1), 7, 10
--- Tuesday, Class cancelled – Class cancelled – rescheduled for
March 15 rescheduled January 19
--- Thursday, Class cancelled - Class cancelled – rescheduled for
March 17 rescheduled February 23
21 Tuesday, Condominium Strata Property Act, SBC 1998 c. 43
March 22 [*skim]

British Columbia Law Institute,

“Backgrounder – Introduction to the
Strata Property Law Project – Phase
Two”, available online:
http://www.bcli.org/wordpress/wp-
content/uploads/2013/11/2014-02-
25_BCLI-SPL-Project-Ph-2-
Backgrounder-no-1-Introduction-to-
Project-FINAL.pdf
22 Thursday, Servitudes Reader, 753-762, 783-784
March 24 (easements, profits
& prendre) LTA, ss. 18(7), 182, 218
23 Tuesday, Servitudes Reader, 797-808, 816-820
March 29 (covenants)
Land Title Act, ss. 182, 218-223

Property Law Act, RSBC 1996, c. 377, s.

35(2)(e)
24 Thursday, Servitudes Reader, 820-843
March 31 (covenants, cont’d)
Land Title Act, ss. 182, 218-223
25 Tuesday, April End of term review No readings
5
26 Thursday, Exam review Review of sample exam questions (to
April 7 be distributed in advance of the class)