1. Property Law
China EU Law School

2. I. Summary previous lectures
Modern property law I
I. Summary previous lectures
II. Today’s topic: Problems with the “classical model”, an overview of modern property law

3. Separation between subject and object
Modern property law I
Separation between subject and object
No separation: no property law
Subjects of property law: natural persons, legal persons and “patrimony”
Traditional objects of property law:
Corporeal things, particularly land (Germany)
Incorporeal things (sometimes: France)
Separate status for intellectual property?

4. Focus on longer on land:
Modern property law I
Focus on longer on land:
Movables
Claims
New objects: “Virtual property”
Cf. developments in succession law:
Strengthening the position of the surviving spouse
Lesser protection for the children

5. Policy choices Modern property law I
(1) Separation between the law of obligations and the law of property?
(2) Ownership: a uniform right (i.e. not to be fragmented in a feudal sense or according to the will of the parties)?
(3) Is ownership protected, when does commerce or the general interest prevail?

6. No longer a strict separation between contract/tort and property
Modern property law I
No longer a strict separation between contract/tort and property
New financial “products” (“derivatives”)
Risks: subprime mortgages as underlying value, credit crisis
Contractual security arrangements: prime example retention of title
Freedom of contract in property law?

7. Maximum rights: ownership, a unitary right, but what about:
Modern property law I
Maximum rights: ownership, a unitary right, but what about:
“unbundling” of energy networks: a return of the feudal system or a return of marxism?
trust-like arrangements (separation between management and benefit of assets): trust account (notaries, lawyers)

8. Leading principles (1) Modern property law I
Numerus clausus: a principle or a rule?
Freedom of contract in property law (already discussed)?
Fragmentation of owernship (already discussed)?

9. Leading principles (2) Modern property law I Transparency
Specificity: no longer strictly applied in security arrangements
Publicity:
not applied in case of large financial transactions (“financial collateral arrangements”)
Privatisation of publicity (credit rating agencies)

10. Ground rules Modern property law I
No fundamental changes
Final question: Does a new object of property law demand a rethinking of our traditional categories of property rights?