Property rights in the Catalan legal system: analysis of the case-law of the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia regarding the Fifth Book of the Civil Code of Catalonia

Abstract

This article studies the impact of the case-law of the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia regarding the property rights of local governments. Despite of the limited access to the Superior Court because of the exceptionality of the cassation appeal, the Superior Court has issued several judgments in different fields. In this context it could be pointed out three fields in which the case-law is relevant: (1) the differences between the concepts of “limits” and “limitations” of property rights, now called in the Fifth Book “restrictions”, and especially the regulation of neighborhood relationships and immissions; (2) the regulation of some property rights such as the retention and the easement, and regarding the latter the easement of lights and views; and (3) the Catalan regulation on condominium property where the case-law has faced the dysfunctions of the legislation and has launched homogenous criteria for all inferior courts.

Keywords:

Fifth Book of the Civil Code of Catalonia, cassation appeal, homogenization of interpretation, acquisitive prescription, limits and limitations, restrictions, neighborhood relationship, immissions, right to retention, right to easement, easement of lights and views, condominium property