Distinguished Visiting Professor Lecture : Understanding What Land Registration Systems Do, and What They Don’t
On 21 April 2026, the CityUHK School of Law had the honour of hosting Professor Martin Dixon from the University of Cambridge as part of the Distinguished Visiting Professor Lecture Series, delivering a lecture entitled “Understanding What Land Registration Systems Do, and What They Don’t”. The event brought together academic faculty members, students, and practitioners for an engaging lecture and discussion, moderated by Assistant Professor Alvin Hoi-Chun Hung, who opened the event. A total of 185 participants attended the lecture in person and online.
In his presentation, Professor Dixon critically examined the widely held belief that the Torrens land registration system represents the ideal model of land registration. While acknowledging its historical role in promoting certainty and efficiency since its introduction in 1858, he challenged assumptions of its inherent superiority by comparing it with alternative systems used in England and Wales and Hong Kong. He further explored how growing enthusiasm for digitalisation has reinforced the expectation that land registration systems can achieve complete certainty through technology, questioning whether this is a universal or realistic objective.
The lecture encouraged participants to rethink persistent assumptions surrounding land registration. It offered valuable comparative insights into property law reform and the role of legal technology in shaping future systems.
About the speaker:
Professor Martin Dixon KC (Hon) is Senior Professor of the Law of Real Property and Director of the Cambridge Centre for Property Law at the University of Cambridge, where he also serves as Head of the Department of Land Economy. A Visiting Professor at City University of Hong Kong, he is Editor‑in‑Chief of Conveyancer & Property Lawyer and co‑author of leading texts including Megarry & Wade: The Law of Real Property. His Modern Land Law is now in its 14th edition, and he has served as a consultant to the Law Commission of England & Wales and the United Nations.
2026年4月21日，香港城市大學法律學院榮幸邀請到英國劍橋大學的 Martin Dixon 教授作為「傑出客座教授講座系列」的講者，並發表題為「了解土地註冊制度的功能與限制」的講座。是次活動匯聚了學術教職員、學生及業界專業人士，進行深入而富啟發性的講座與交流，由洪凱晉助理教授主持開場。是次講座共有185名參加者親身出席及在線參與。
在講座中，Dixon 教授深入探討長期以來備受推崇的托倫斯土地註冊制度（Torrens system），質疑其是否必然為土地註冊的最佳模式。儘管該制度自1858年推出以來，對提升法律確定性及行政效率發揮重要作用，教授指出，相關優越性的主張往往未經充分檢視。他透過比較英格蘭與威爾斯以及香港的土地註冊制度，說明不同制度各有其功能與限制。此外，Dixon 教授亦探討了近年對數碼化的熱切期待，如何進一步強化「土地註冊可透過科技達致完全確定性與效率」的觀念，並提醒與會者反思此一目標是否適用於所有司法管轄區。 講座鼓勵了與會者重新審視有關土地註冊制度的既有假設，並從比較法的角度，提供對不動產法改革以及法律科技在塑造未來制度中的角色之深具啟發性的見解。
關於講者： Martin Dixon 教授為劍橋大學土地法資深教授，並擔任劍橋大學財產法研究中心主任及土地經濟系系主任。他同時為香港城市大學訪問教授，並為英國社會科學學院院士。 Dixon 教授是倫敦 Falcon Chambers 的學術研究員，亦為多個英國物業及衡平法相關專業協會的榮譽會員。他現任《Conveyancer & Property Lawyer》總編，並合著《Megarry & Wade：不動產法》及《Ruoff and Roper’s Law of Registered Conveyancing》等權威著作，其《Modern Land Law》一書現已出版至第十四版。他亦曾擔任英格蘭及威爾斯法律委員會及聯合國的顧問。