A person holding property under one legal right cannot unilaterally change that right to another

A recent Court of Appeal ruling clarified that someone occupying property under one legal status, like a licensee, cannot change that status to something else, like a tenant, simply by their own actions. This principle is based on the legal maxim nemo sibi ipsum causam possessionis mutare potest, meaning a person cannot unilaterally change the legal basis of their possession.

The case involved a property owner who sought to remove an occupant after ending a license that had been given out of compassion. The owner stated that no rental agreement ever existed and that the occupant had lived there rent-free since 1971. The occupant, however, claimed she was a tenant from that time and said she had paid rent, though she had no receipts for it. The owner denied ever receiving rent or intending to create a landlord-tenant relationship.

Evidence examined included documents submitted by the occupant to housing authorities and some rent payments made to a local council starting in 1985. These payments began after a failed attempt by the occupant to buy the property. No proof of rent payments from 1971 to 1981 was provided, and the occupant admitted she neither received nor asked for receipts.

The Court emphasized that once ownership was admitted, the burden shifted to the occupant to prove legal tenancy. She failed to do so. Payments to a third party, without the owner’s consent or a clear rental agreement, did not establish a tenancy.

“…As the evidence suggests that the Defendant had come into occupation of the premises as a licensee of the Plaintiff, mere depositing of rent in the Town Council shall not give rise to a tenancy agreement between the parties. Because meeting of the minds of the parties is an essential component for a contract to be constituted in law. There is no evidence to support that the Plaintiff agreed to enter into such a rent agreement. It is further observed that there is no evidence to the extent that the Rent Board has ordered to deposit of any rent in the Town Council. Hence, the Defendant is not legally entitled to change the nature of her possession from a licence to tenancy on her initiative. The legal maxim of civil law, “Neminum sibi ipsum causam possessions mutare posse”, simplifies the situation, which means that a person having possession of property by one right or title cannot, by his own and without the intervention of some new title, change the character or title by which he previously held such property….” Justice Dammika Ganepola

Case No: CA/480/2000F [Decided on 30.04.2025]

Before: Dhammika Ganepola, J. and Damith Thotawatta, J.