The constitutional shift regarding the ownership of vacant, abandoned or ownerless property

Abstract

The Civil Code recognises that the State succeeds in the final instance as a true heir, with the same rights and obligations, thereby maintaining a private nature of succession despite certain particularities arising from its public character. This conception makes it difficult to identify the basis of state succession with the concept of sovereignty, unlike what historically occurred with vacant or ownerless property, linked to eminent domain, ownership of which lies with the State. In judgments 40 and 41/2018 of 26 April, the Constitutional Court—contrary to the established view regarding the constitutional legitimacy of the State’s right to acquire vacant properties— upholds the constitutionality of two regional regulations from Aragon and Navarre concerning the transfer of ownership of vacant properties, thereby opening the way for the unlimited expansion of regional civil law. This paper addresses the question of whether there is such a direct connection with regional special provisions on intestate succession, which forms the basis of the new constitutional criterion.