basis for other areas of the law as well. When a person holds an entitlement to
property, this invites the application of other areas of law, including the law of
taxation, succession, and marriage.
For example, a person who owns a piece of land is obliged to pay taxes on it, and a person
who acquires ownership of a book must pay taxes (value added tax or VAT) on the purchase
price. A person who inherits land from his parents will be an heir in succession law and
must also pay taxes on this inheritance. Finally, when two persons get married, there will be
a property regime between them, varying from common ownership to a forced separation of
assets.
Because property law underlies other parts of (private) law, it is known as a
cornerstone of private law; it forms the foundation on which other parts of law are
built.
5.1.3 Central Questions
This chapter deals with a number of central questions of property law. The first
question, addressed in Sect.5.2, is why there should be property rights and property
law at all.
The second question is what the main types of property rights are in the common
law and in the civil law traditions. This question will be answered in Sects.5.3–5.5.
Although there are different property rights, they have a number of
characteristics in common. In Sect.5.6, the question what these common elements
are will be answered by discussing seven principles and rules of property law.
The fourth question concerns the dynamics of property rights. How are these
rights created, how are they transferred from one holder to another, and how are
they terminated? This is the topic of Sect.5.7.
A final question, to be answered in Sect.5.8, is how property law will develop, in
particular, in light of further integration within the European Union.
5.2 Why Property Rights?
We are all accustomed to the idea that it is possible to have exclusive rights on
objects. There seems to be nothing strange in the fact that someone owns a book and
can prevent everyone else from reading it. And still, if one comes to think of it, it is
less obvious than it seems at first sight. Why should there be property rights at all?
Would it not be better if everyone were allowed to use everything?
Freedom of Ownership Property rights actually facilitate the free circulation of
goods by enabling these goods to change owners. A free market economy functions
on the basis of what is known as the freedom of ownership. In such a system, every
individual is free to acquire and dispose of, i.e. alienate, ownership. The existence
of property rights therefore ensures the free circulation of goods. Property law
firmly establishes the presumption that all objects and things are freely transferable
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