Abstract

In the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court to date, there has been a clear majority of opinions denying the possibility of transferring or assigning to another entity the claim for establishing perpetual usufruct, which is provided for in Art. 207(1) of the Real Property Management Act, as well as the possessor’s entitlement based on the previous regulations now replaced by this provision. In this light, the resolution of the Supreme Court of 18.2.2021, III CZP 15/20, may be regarded as a turning point because, according to its thesis, a company which is a general legal successor of the former possessor of real estate is entitled to the claim under Art 207(1) of the Real Property Management Act if the legal successor continues to be in possession of the real estate. The dissenting standpoint of the jurisprudence hitherto prevailing seemed insufficiently justified, given the principle of transferability of property rights under Polish civil law, as to which the provisions of the Real Property Management Act do not expressly provide for an exception, as well as taking into account the generally accepted view in the doctrine and the jurisprudence concerning transferability of other similar claims closely connected with the possession of real estate. Unfortunately, the reasoning of the Supreme Court’s resolution of 18.2.2021 does not provide convincing arguments that would support the need to depart from the previous position of the case law. The study is devoted to the presentation of these reasons.