State Lands (Amendment) Act 2023 (No. 23 of 2023).

This Act deletes subsections (1A) and (6) and amends subsection (1) of Section 13 of the Principal Act regarding the protected lease and the prohibition of lessees from alienating or dealing with the land without the written consent of the Director of Lands. This Act compels obtaining consent before engaging in any sale, transfer, sublease, mortgage, charge, or pledge related to the land with the protected lease. Therefore, it inserts Section 13A to lay down transitional provisions. According to these transitional arrangements, any mortgage, charge, pledge, caveat or lease to be dealt with by any court of law or under the process of any court of law under section 13 on or after 1 August 2021 and before the commencement of this Act is deemed to have acquired the required consent in accordance with section 13 of the principal Act. However, the applications received for consent for carrying out the aforementioned transactions on or after 1 August 2021 and before the commencement of this Act and under process must acquire the required consent according to Section 13. Furthermore, Section 16 of the Principal Act is amended by deleting subsections (4), (5), (6), (7) and (8).
This Act deletes Part 4 of the State Lands (Leases and Licences) Regulations 1980 and makes consequential amendment. Any application received by the committee established under Part 4 of the Regulations for which a decision has not been made prior to the commencement of this Act, must be dealt with in accordance with the Principal Act.