Justice Enyonam Adinyira of the Adentan High Court has advised lawyers on what to look out for in their advisory opinion, due diligence and litigation for clients in land matters. Her Ladyship, Justice of the High Court has advised lawyers to seek or request for a composite report covering any land of a client for which a lawyer is engaged to offer legal services.

Her Ladyship offered this advice in open court during proceedings on the 19th day of July, 2024. Justice Adinyira told lawyers in her packed Courtroom that she now orders litigating parties to produce a composite report and a composite survey plan of land which is the centre of dispute between litigating parties. Her announcement of her orders for documentary reports emanating from the lands commission covering disputed lands followed after she made an order to parties in a land matter to furnish the court with a copy of a composite report from the lands commission.

In explaining her reasoning for the need for a composite report and not just a composite plan, Her Ladyship said a composite plan just covers deeds and may not have a comprehensive coverage of other interests . She says the composite plan which is just a survey map shows the physical land. A composite report however, per Justice Adinyira, shows all plotted transactions and exposes all conflicting claims over a parcel of land.

Further buttressing the need for a composite report, Her Ladyship said such a report comes from all the divisions of the Lands Commission suggesting a holistic appreciation of matters and deeds concerning the land. She added that a composite report on land will even "educate Counsel on whether or not to even proceed to court in a matter affecting a piece of land."

She added that the composite report is particularly good for land owned by families or stools, thereby suggesting the resort to a composite report covering land particularly useful for communally owned land.

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