Nicholas Asprey tackles the issue of the Crown & compulsory purchase
It is an established rule of statutory interpretation that the Crown is not bound by a statute which imposes restraints on persons in respect of property unless the statute says so expressly or by necessary implication (see British Broadcasting Corporation v Johns [1964] EWCA Civ 2, [1964] 1 All ER 923; cited with approval in Lord Advocate v Dumbarton DC [1990] 2 AC 580, [1990] 1 All ER 1). It is for this reason that an interest in land held by the Crown cannot be compulsorily acquired unless the statute expressly provides the acquiring authority with the power to acquire Crown interests.
In the case of interests held by persons or bodies other than the Crown in land which otherwise belongs to the Crown, such as where the Crown owns the freehold and a non-Crown body holds a lease, statutes often provide for the compulsory acquisition of the non-Crown interests, but this power is only exercisable with the consent of the appropriate Crown authority.
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