The idea of the Crown as ultimate or sovereign owner has also been raised in the case of native land in Australia especially in the Mabo and Wik cases. In the region, the question of Crown ownership of the foreshore has been an issue, especially in the Solomon Islands. The concept of tenure today, especially of freehold, is primarily a legal construct. Nevertheless it remains the case that each successor in title to a freehold estate steps into the shoes of the transferor an effect brought about by the Statute of Quia Emptores in 1290 and holds as a tenant in chief from the Crown. Nowadays the law is less concerned with the relationship between the tenant and the lord except perhaps in the case of leasehold or short duration than that between the tenant and the land.
Estates therefore are of primary importance, tenures less so.
This is in marked distinction to customary law, where it may be said that tenures i.e. the relationship between the occupier or user and the grantor, do remain important, especially in certain jurisdictions of the region, e.g. Samoa and Tonga. The latter has a unique system of land allocation which will now be considered. Regional Specialities A number of regional specialities which combine features of freehold and leasehold have already been considered under Topic Seven. One remaining speciality is that found in Tonga. This is an interesting system which has vestiges of feudal tenure, customary law and introduced ideas in it.