National scientific-practical conference „Property Law: Will Foundations of Private Law Withstand Challenges of XXI Century?“

On May 18th, 2018, Vilnius University hosted a national scientific and practical conference organized by the Faculty of Law of VU “Property Law: Will Foundations of Private Law Withstand Challenges of XXI Century?”. During it, general theoretical questions in this area of private law were discussed and discussed, from specific problems of property law, such as property rights in local territorial planning and legal regulation of construction, consumer protection in mortgage relations, or even the possibility of using algorithms in property division disputes.

Many speakers emphasized that property law and the problems of its application are quite forgotten in Lithuania. Certainly much more attention is paid to the law of obligations. Professor Valentinas Mikelėnas pointed out that it would probably have been better to call the fourth book of the Civil Code “property law” and there would be no disputes as to what is an object and which objects are subject to property law. He emphasized that it is time to abandon the dogmatic approach and understand that property is not only things, and that the differences between real and compulsory rights are decreasing. More than one speaker pointed out that the numerus clausus principle in real property law is ineffective nowadays.

Professor Vytautas Mizaras discussed the practice of the ECHR in the area of property protection and emphasized that property in the practice of this Court is understood autonomously and really broadly – it is things, certain rights, claims and interests that have a property value. That there are problems with the protection of property in Lithuania is also shown by the fact that, to date, out of 32 cases against Lithuania for violation of the first protocol of the ECHR, in 22 cases a violation has been established.

In addition, both Dr. Evaldas Klimas and Dr. Laurynas Didžiulis said that public law and public interest are more and more felt in such traditional private law as property law. There are more and more cases where courts or other institutions prioritize public interest over private interest. The judge of the Constitutional Court, Janina Stripeikienė, said that consumer rights are not properly protected in mortgage legal relations and that the real estate credit law does not adequately implement the EU directive in Lithuania. Courts in Lithuania still do not always apply the protection of consumer rights in ex officio court disputes and do not detect violations of consumer rights. In her opinion, this can also be done, for example, when examining complaints about the actions of notaries or bailiffs.

Professors Vytautas Nekrošius and Ramūnas Birštonas discussed the issue of governance as a right in rem in Lithuania and how complicated the statute of limitations is applied. Professor Vytautas Nekrošius emphasized that management is a de facto state and this institute can only be effective if it takes such a position. In addition, it was argued that most disputes between co-owners or disputes arising from the law of inheritance should be resolved by special jurisdiction rather than litigation. Professor and judge of the Supreme Court of Lithuania Armanas Abramavičius discussed issues when the concept of real property law raises questions in criminal cases.

Dr. Laurynas Didižulis and Dr. Rimantas Simaitis discussed that new technologies or even algorithms affect all areas of law, including property law. So if law and lawyers do not change, the rule of law can be replaced by the rule of technology.

A publication with detailed articles by conference speakers on the topics covered should also be published later.