The case for bad faith adverse possession - an Irish perspective

In this paper I will be examining the position of the squatter who, knowing the land belongs to another, purposefully sets out to acquire it through the doctrine of adverse possession. This type of squatter is sometimes described as a bad faith adverse possessor while a person who believes that they own the land in question may be referred to as a good faith adverse possessor. It would be easy to assume that bad faith adverse possessors are universally viewed as moral degenerates or scoundrels who do not deserve to benefit from the doctrine of adverse possession. It is true that a lot of the academic literature condemns this individual and legislatures are increasingly attempting to devise ways of limiting the extent to which such undeserving squatters can benefit from the doctrine. However, there is also a growing body of literature which challenges the consensus view and defends bad faith squatters. In fact, Professor Lee Anne Fennell argues that only the bad faith adverse possessor should be permitted to succeed under the doctrine of adverse possession. In this paper I examine the relevance of Fennell’s arguments in the Irish context.