Fifteen Questions on the Rules Regarding the Acquisition of Movables in Book VIII Draft Common Frame of Reference

ABSTRACT: This contribution focuses on Book VIII Draft Common Frame of Reference (DCFR) regarding acquisition and loss of ownership of movable property and consists of fifteen questions encountered when studying the rules of this book. The aim is to provide an ‘internal’ assessment of the provisions by establishing their completeness, consistency with other provisions, fairness, and practicability, without trying to determine to what extent they fit into the current European legal systems. The topics addressed in these questions are exclusivity of ownership and rights of others (Article 1:202), retention of ownership (Articles 1:204 and 2:307), ownership and the limited right to use (Articles 1:202 and 1:204), the ‘right or authority’ to transfer ownership (Chapters 2 and 3), the agreement as to the time ownership is to pass (Article 2:101 (1)(e)), ratification of an invalid transfer (Article 2:102), the legal nature of delivery (Article 2:104 (1)), the possibility to transfer ownership of stolen goods, transfer of goods by means of a document (Article 2:105 (4)), transfer subject to a resolutive or suspensive condition (Article 2:203), the burden of proof on the transferee in case of good faith acquisition (Article 3:101), acquisitive prescription of cultural objects (Article 4:102), acquisitive prescription and acknowledgement of the owner’s rights by a possession-agent (Article 4:205), acquisition of ownership by the producer in the case of production for the benefit of the owner of the materials (Article 5:201).