TITLE III

POSSESSION OF PROPERTY

table of contents

Section 1367. A person acquires possessory right by holding a property with the intention of holding it for himself.

Section 1368. A person may acquire possessory right through another person holding for him.

Section 1369. A person who holds a property is presumed to hold it for himself.

Section 1370. A possessor is presumed to possess in good faith, peacefully and openly.

Section 1371. If it is proved that a person possessed the same property at two different times, it is presumed that his possession continued during the interval.

Section 1372. It is presumed that a possessor has, in law, the right which he exercises over the property possessed.

Section 1373. Where property is an immovable entered in the land registered, the person whose name is on the register is presumed to have possessory right over it.

Section 1374. Where a possessor is disturbed in his possession by unlawful interference, he is entitled to have the disturbance removed. If further disturbance is to be apprehended, the possessor may apply for an injunction.

An action for removal of disturbance must ne entered within one year from the time of the disturbance.

Section 1375. Where a possessor is unlawfully deprived of possession, he is entitled to have it returned, unless the other party has over the property a better right which would entitle him to claim it back from the possessor.

An action for recovery of possession must be entered within one year from the time of dispossession.

Section 1376. Where property is to be returned to the person entitled to recover it, the provisions of Section 412 to 418 of this Code concerning Undue Enrichment shall apply mutatis mutandis.

Section1377. Possession comes to an end if the possessor abandons the intention to possess or no longer holds the property.

Possession does not come to an end if the possessor is prevented from holding the property by some cause which is temporary in its nature.

Section 1378. Transfer of possession is effected by delivery of the property possessed.

Section 1379. Where property is already held by the transferee or his representative, the transfer of possession may be effected by a declaration of intention.

Section 1380. Transfer of possession is effected when the transferor, while continuing to hold the property, declares an intention to hold it thenceforward on behalf of the transferee.

If the property is held by his representative, the transfer of possession may be effected by the transferor directing such representative thenceforward to hold the property on behalf of the transferee.

Section 1381. Where a person holds property as representative of the possessor, he may change the nature of his holding only by a notice to the possessor that he no longer intends to hold the property for such possessor or by becoming in good faith, through the act of a third person, possessor under a new title.

Section 1382. Where a person has, for an uninterrupted period of ten years in case of an immovable, or five years in case of a movable, peacefully and openly possessed a property belonging to another, with the intention to be its owner, he acquires the ownership of it.

Section 1383. The ownership of property obtained through an offence may be acquired by the offender or a transferee in bad faith by prescription only after the expiration of the period provided for prescription of the offence or of the period fixed by the foregoing section whichever is longer.

Section 1384. Possession shall not be deemed interrupted if the possessor involuntarily loses the holding of the property, and recovers it within one year from the date of the loss or by means of an action instituted with that time.

Section 1385. Where possession is transferred, the transferee may add the period of the transferor's possession to that of his own; in which case any defect in the possession of the transferor may be set up against the transferee.

Section 1386. The provisions of this Code concerning Prescription shall apply mutatis mutandis to acquisitive prescription to this Title.

table of contents

Prev Next