Property rights exist only in their relationship to certain assets. A property right per se has no independent existence. Thus, for example, the sentence: “‘A’ is the owner” is meaningless as long as there is no mention of the object of which A is the owner (“‘A’ is the owner of the house”). This also applies to lease, pledges and other property rights — without assets to which the rights relate, the rights do not exist. Things which are the objects of property rights are the various “assets”, and a person's aggregate assets constitute his “wealth”.
To claim that the Land Law, 1969 is the most significant private law enactment to have been promulgated hitherto by the Knesset may perhaps be regarded as somewhat of anexaggeration. Nevertheless, it would seem incontrovertible that this statute is at any rate among the most basic and extensive to have been enacted by the Knesset in the realm ofprivate law. In order to appreciate the particular importance of this statute it is sufficient to consider two provisions thereof, namely, the abolition of recourse to English law as a source for complementing the local law in all matters relating to land; and, secondly, the repeal of the Ottoman land legislation. Some preliminary remarks may be of assistance in appreciating the full import of these two provisions.
The Trust Law, 1979, came into force at the beginning of February, 1980, resolving the debate of many years as to whether the institution of private trusts is recognized in the Israeli legal system. The debate was carried on in the cases, and in scholarly articles, but despite all the ink that was spilt, the law remained uncertain. Two views recently expressed on the question, one by Cohn J. in the case ofInzelv.Kugelmas, and the other by experts in the Ministry of Justice in their preamble to the Trust Bill, are clear evidence of the uncertainty. Cohn J. wrote:The learned advocate was not aware that this Court has already recognized the existence of private trusts in Israeli Law several times, and will not turn the clock back now…The experts in the Ministry of Justice, on the other hand, stated that—The courts in Israel ruled, both in the time of the Mandate and after the establishment of the State, that the institution of private trusts has not been incorporated into Israeli law.
Historical developments have left a greater impression on the law of property than on many other branches of law. Land law, which constitutes a substantial portion of the law of property, is of particular import in this regard. The characteristic feature of land is its permanence, which is manifested in place, time and quantity: place – land being immovable; time – land having a continuous existence; and quantity – the amount of land basically not changing. This threefold permanence exposes land law to the continuous influence of historical forces, the effects of which are lasting. The phenomenon can be observed in the legal systems of many countries, including Israel.
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