Weekly Summary
WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION TO PROPERTY LAW
• Property Law ⟶ the legal relationship between persons and things or rights
• Personal Rights v Property Rights ⟶ the law of obligations (contractual - between persons) vs the legal
relationship between a person and a thing (or right)
a personal rights has less priority than property rights
• personal rights only against certain individuals < property rights are against everyone (absolute effect)
• eg. property rights can be invoked against bankruptcy trustee where personal rights cannot
Property Rights Personal Rights
relationship between person and a thing relationship between persons
(or right)
enforceable against the whole world (in only binding on the parties
principle) *there are exceptions
more formalities few formalities
mandatory rules freedom of contract
PART 1 : PRINCIPLES OF PROPERTY LAW
• Droit de Suite ⟶ when a property right is invested in a thing, the right follows the object no matter in whose hands
the object ends up in
• Nemo Plus ⟶ no one can give out what they do not have (right of disposal)
• Unity Principle ⟶ that what to common opinion is regarded as a unit, is treated as such in law
Bicycle example → when a part is added, the former ownership rights of a piece (eg. separate saddle attached)
are squandered and it now becomes the owner of the whole bike’s propert
• Principle of Priority ⟶ the older right is the stronger right (eg. right of pledge)
this principle follows from the fact that property rights are absolute
• Principle of Speci city ⟶ property rights only exist with respect to speci c things
• Principle of Publicity ⟶ the creation or transfer of property rights usually requires a form of publicity (eg. registry
Absolute effect → because property rights apply to everyone, third parties should be aware of rights that apply
to them indirectl
• Numerus Clausus ⟶ the available property rights are limited by law
Creation of P. Rights → parties are only able to create property rights which are recognised by the law
Content of P. Right → the possible content is xed by law; a property right should remain within the boundaries
of the chosen property righ
Purpose → for legal certainty and predictability
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,PART 2 : EXAMPLES OF PROPERTY RIGHT
• Ownership ⟶ right over a thing; provided they are not used in a way prohibited by statutes or regulation
๏ right to use the thing
๏ right to dispose the thing
๏ right to exclude others from using it
Civil law v Common law → common law (judge-made law) has a more relative approach = it is not necessary
to prove ownership, it is suf cient to prove that you have a “better right" to the object
• the “better right” has absolute effect against everyone except the person with an even better right
• eg. person who nds sunglasses on the beach vs the actual owner of the sunglasse
• Limited real rights ⟶ real rights, less than ownership (art VIII-1:204)
Security rights → eg. pledge (moveable), hypothec (immoveable), etc.
Rights to use → eg. usufruct, servitude, easement, etc.
• to give a right of use there are formalities in place - thus it would be speci cally stipulated that such a
right was “granted
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, WEEK 2: PRODUCTION, COMMINGLING, & COMBINATION
• Original Acquisition ⟶ a new property right is coming into existence which did not exist before (eg. production
• Derivative Acquisition ⟶ one acquires a right from a predecessor (eg. inheritance / a right transferred from A to B)
• Art VIII-5:101(1) DCFR ⟶ the legal consequences of ‘production’, commingling’ and ‘combination’ can be
regulated by party agreement
Numerus Clausus → the property rights are limited under this article
• Production (‘speci catio’) ⟶ art VIII-5:201 DCFR
When it occurs
❖ the producer and the owner of the material are different person
❖ a new good is produced by contributing labour (analyse in conjunction with para 2a)
❖ a new good (ie. change of form, function, character, name, value [this is not a factor on its own] - based
on common opinion
Consequences
• possible exceptions under para 2 (in conj. with para 3) eg. production without consent (theft)
• valid production creates new property rights → para 1 (original acquisition)
• Commingling (‘commixitio/confusio’) ⟶ art VIII-5:202 DCFR
When it occurs
❖ goods owned by several persons
❖ impossible or economically unreasonable to separate the resulting mass/mixture intro its original
constituents
❖ it is possible or economically reasonable to separate the mass/mixture into proportionate quantitie
Consequences
• owners of the constituents of the commingled mass/mixture become co-owners
• para 2 → what the (new) (co)owners can do with the resulting mass/mixtur
• Combination (‘accessio’) ⟶ art VIII-5:203 DCFR : when a movable thing becomes a part anther movable thin
When it occur
❖ two or more goods combined
❖ owned by different persons
❖ impossible to separate or separation is economically unreasonabl
a) costs of separation (including amount of effort) , plus
b) the amount of damage on the constituent parts
Consequences
• Para 2 and 4 applicable if there is a principle part → sole ownership + potential compensatio
> “Principal part” — its value considerably exceeds that of the component (additional) part (common
opinion)
> Para 4 provides an exception — when there is knowledge of there not being consent vs it being done
unknowingly (ie. good faith principle )
• Para 3 applies when there is no principal part → co-ownership
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WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION TO PROPERTY LAW
• Property Law ⟶ the legal relationship between persons and things or rights
• Personal Rights v Property Rights ⟶ the law of obligations (contractual - between persons) vs the legal
relationship between a person and a thing (or right)
a personal rights has less priority than property rights
• personal rights only against certain individuals < property rights are against everyone (absolute effect)
• eg. property rights can be invoked against bankruptcy trustee where personal rights cannot
Property Rights Personal Rights
relationship between person and a thing relationship between persons
(or right)
enforceable against the whole world (in only binding on the parties
principle) *there are exceptions
more formalities few formalities
mandatory rules freedom of contract
PART 1 : PRINCIPLES OF PROPERTY LAW
• Droit de Suite ⟶ when a property right is invested in a thing, the right follows the object no matter in whose hands
the object ends up in
• Nemo Plus ⟶ no one can give out what they do not have (right of disposal)
• Unity Principle ⟶ that what to common opinion is regarded as a unit, is treated as such in law
Bicycle example → when a part is added, the former ownership rights of a piece (eg. separate saddle attached)
are squandered and it now becomes the owner of the whole bike’s propert
• Principle of Priority ⟶ the older right is the stronger right (eg. right of pledge)
this principle follows from the fact that property rights are absolute
• Principle of Speci city ⟶ property rights only exist with respect to speci c things
• Principle of Publicity ⟶ the creation or transfer of property rights usually requires a form of publicity (eg. registry
Absolute effect → because property rights apply to everyone, third parties should be aware of rights that apply
to them indirectl
• Numerus Clausus ⟶ the available property rights are limited by law
Creation of P. Rights → parties are only able to create property rights which are recognised by the law
Content of P. Right → the possible content is xed by law; a property right should remain within the boundaries
of the chosen property righ
Purpose → for legal certainty and predictability
y
fi
t
fi
y
fi
)
,PART 2 : EXAMPLES OF PROPERTY RIGHT
• Ownership ⟶ right over a thing; provided they are not used in a way prohibited by statutes or regulation
๏ right to use the thing
๏ right to dispose the thing
๏ right to exclude others from using it
Civil law v Common law → common law (judge-made law) has a more relative approach = it is not necessary
to prove ownership, it is suf cient to prove that you have a “better right" to the object
• the “better right” has absolute effect against everyone except the person with an even better right
• eg. person who nds sunglasses on the beach vs the actual owner of the sunglasse
• Limited real rights ⟶ real rights, less than ownership (art VIII-1:204)
Security rights → eg. pledge (moveable), hypothec (immoveable), etc.
Rights to use → eg. usufruct, servitude, easement, etc.
• to give a right of use there are formalities in place - thus it would be speci cally stipulated that such a
right was “granted
fi ”
fi
S
fi s
s
, WEEK 2: PRODUCTION, COMMINGLING, & COMBINATION
• Original Acquisition ⟶ a new property right is coming into existence which did not exist before (eg. production
• Derivative Acquisition ⟶ one acquires a right from a predecessor (eg. inheritance / a right transferred from A to B)
• Art VIII-5:101(1) DCFR ⟶ the legal consequences of ‘production’, commingling’ and ‘combination’ can be
regulated by party agreement
Numerus Clausus → the property rights are limited under this article
• Production (‘speci catio’) ⟶ art VIII-5:201 DCFR
When it occurs
❖ the producer and the owner of the material are different person
❖ a new good is produced by contributing labour (analyse in conjunction with para 2a)
❖ a new good (ie. change of form, function, character, name, value [this is not a factor on its own] - based
on common opinion
Consequences
• possible exceptions under para 2 (in conj. with para 3) eg. production without consent (theft)
• valid production creates new property rights → para 1 (original acquisition)
• Commingling (‘commixitio/confusio’) ⟶ art VIII-5:202 DCFR
When it occurs
❖ goods owned by several persons
❖ impossible or economically unreasonable to separate the resulting mass/mixture intro its original
constituents
❖ it is possible or economically reasonable to separate the mass/mixture into proportionate quantitie
Consequences
• owners of the constituents of the commingled mass/mixture become co-owners
• para 2 → what the (new) (co)owners can do with the resulting mass/mixtur
• Combination (‘accessio’) ⟶ art VIII-5:203 DCFR : when a movable thing becomes a part anther movable thin
When it occur
❖ two or more goods combined
❖ owned by different persons
❖ impossible to separate or separation is economically unreasonabl
a) costs of separation (including amount of effort) , plus
b) the amount of damage on the constituent parts
Consequences
• Para 2 and 4 applicable if there is a principle part → sole ownership + potential compensatio
> “Principal part” — its value considerably exceeds that of the component (additional) part (common
opinion)
> Para 4 provides an exception — when there is knowledge of there not being consent vs it being done
unknowingly (ie. good faith principle )
• Para 3 applies when there is no principal part → co-ownership
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