Rights

Question 1

What are real rights?

Answer 1

Real rights are rights directly in a thing. You can sue whoever challenges that right.

Question 2

What are personal rights?

Answer 2

Personal rights are rights held by a person against another person. That person is obligated to perform in a certain way.

Question 3

What makes real rights stronger than personal rights?

Answer 3

Real rights are enforceable against everyone, personal rights are enforceable to particular persons.

Question 4

What is the main real right?

Answer 4

the right of ownership

Question 5

Why is there a fixed list of real rights?

Answer 5

Real rights are enforceable
against anyone and affect third parties so they have to be publicised in a fixed list.

Question 6

What are subordinate real rights?

Answer 6

Rights you can have in other people’s property.

Question 7

Subordinate real rights examples?

Answer 7

lease of land, servitude, rights in security, real burden (neg), proper liferent etc

Question 8

Explain rights in security?

Answer 8

Giving something (watch, gold etc) as a security for a loan, if you don’t pay the loan it can be sold.

Mortgage (standard security) you buy a house, you get funding from a bank, the bank takes a security over the house, if you don’t keep up payments, then they sell the house

Question 9

What is a real burden?

Answer 9

A positive or negative obligation affecting land

Question 10

Give an example of a positive real burden.

Answer 10

A and B have a wall between them and agree to be responsible for 50% of the maintenance costs each

Positive real burdens are not enforceable against everyone only the landowners.

Question 11

Give an example of a negative real burden.

Answer 11

A may agree with B not to build above a certain height, so there’s a negative condition on the land

Negative real burdens are real rights in the sense that they are enforceable against everyone

Question 12

Explain lease of land

Answer 12

A contract, signed.
A lease is a real right you have property to make use of your landlord’s property

Question 13

What is a proper liferent ?

Answer 13

Right to use a property for life, Liferenter has a real right in property which allows them to use it for life

Proper – real right
Improper – personal right

Question 14

What is a servitude?

Answer 14

The right of a landowner to make limited use of their neighbour’s land

Question 15

Difference between a real right in servitude and a contractual agreement.

Answer 15

if A and B have an agreement and then A sells the land to C, C is not bound by that agreement as they were not a party to that contract

However if A and B have a real right of servitude, C would be bound as a real right of servitude binds successors

Question 16

Can there be multiple real rights?

Answer 16

There can be many real rights like security rights but there can only be one lease.

There can only be one right of ownership at a time. If A is the owner B is not the owner.

Question 17

What are the rules regarding transfer of property and rights ?

Answer 17

Personal rights do not survive transfer but real rights do. Real rights stick stick to a property regardless of who owns it.

Question 18

Give an example of a personal right.

Answer 18

Contact - if A makes a contract with B, enforceable against B
Unjustified enrichment, defamation, delict.