ABSTRACT
The conventional wisdom portrays an unbridgeable gap between civil versus common law property, with civil law starting with absolute dominion and common law having only relativity of title. This article argues that this description is misleading, because the possession doctrines in civil law have been unduly omitted. Drawing on a unique hand-coded data set on property law in 214 jurisdictions around the world, this article demonstrates that a majority of civil-law jurisdictions also essentially recognize relative titles. In addition, this article demonstrates that analyzing the data on possession with a Hohfeldian analytical lens reveals that possession is usually not just a fact, but a (quasi) in-rem jural relationship between possessors and all others in the world. In most jurisdictions, possession immediately or after some time (conditionally) creates quasi-property rights.
Chang, Yun-chien, Theory of Relativity of Title (October 31, 2023).
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