Squatting, Trespassing and Adverse Possession in Jamaica

This Squatting, Trespassing and Adverse Possession (STAP) Report will be important to you if you own land or property in Jamaica or if you know someone who does. Is the title to the land registered in your name with the Registrar of Titles? Even if you do hold the land title you could still lose your treasured land if you have not visited the property in many years. Are you a person who has been living on such land for so many years now that you believe it is yours? Well, think again. This Report illustrates recent decisions of the Supreme Court of Jamaica and Jamaica’s last resort of appeal the UK Privy Council. Cases include stepfather against stepson, second wife against first wife, businessman against property owner, landowner against public electricity giant and one of the most violent STAP cases ever to be heard by the courts. The latter pitched numerous squatters against a property magnate and resulted in a devastating outcome for both the claimants and the defendants.