Judges and Registrars of the Land Registration Division
Judges
Principal Judge Michael Michell was called to the Bar in 1984 and practised at the Chancery Bar.
He was appointed a fee-paid Deputy Adjudicator to HM Land Registry in 2005 and a salaried Deputy Adjudicator in January 2009. On the abolition of the office of the Adjudicator to HM Land Registry, he became of Judge of the First-tier Tribunal, sitting in the Land Registration Division of the Property Chamber. He was appointed Principal Judge of the Land Registration Division with effect from 1 April 2020.
He is the co-author of “A Practical Guide to Land Registry Adjudication” and “A Practical Guide to Land Registration Proceedings”
Judge Alexander Bastin was called to the Bar in 1995 and practised at the Chancery Bar, specialising in property law. He was appointed as a salaried judge of the First-Tier Tribunal in April 2020 and assigned to the Property Chamber, where he sits exclusively in the Land Registration Division. He also sits as a Deputy District Judge in the County Court.
Judge Ewan Paton was called to the Bar in 1996 and practised at the Chancery Bar, specialising in property law. He was appointed as a salaried judge of the First-tier Tribunal in May 2021 and assigned to the Property Chamber, where he sits exclusively in the Land Registration Division. Whilst in practice he sat for 12 years as a part-time Chair of the Residential Property Tribunal in Wales, and for three years as a fee-paid judge of the Land Registration Division. He is also the co-editor of Preston & Newsom’s Restrictive Covenants Affecting Freehold Land (11th edition, 2020).
Judge Diana Barlow was appointed a salaried judge of the First-tier Tribunal in 2021 and assigned to the Property Chamber. Judge Barlow sits both in the Residential Property Division and in the Land Registration Division. Judge Barlow is a solicitor, who previously worked in private practice and as an officer of HM Land Registry.
A number of fee-paid judges (currently 34) sit in the Land Registration Division. They are barristers and solicitors specialising in property law.
Registrars
Mr David Coffey, a solicitor formerly in private practice, who prior to the coming into existence of the Land Registration Division, was employed by the Adjudicator to HM Land Registry as a lawyer.
Mrs Linda Williams, a solicitor and one time officer of HM Land Registry.