Emphyteusis
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Emphyteusis (Greek: implanting) is a contract for land that allows the holder the right to the enjoyment of a property, often in perpetuity, on condition of proper care, payment of tax and rent. The right encompasses assignment and of descent.


History

Emphyteusis originated in
Ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...
. In the early
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
it was initially granted by the state for the purposes of
agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
or development. In essence it was a long-term lease of an imperial domain for a rental in kind. The title existing before ''emphyteusis'' was ''ius in agro vectigali''. The ''emphyteusis'' gave the lease-holder (''emphyteuta'') rights similar to those of a proprietor, although the real owner remained the person to whom the rent (''canon'' or ''pensio'') was paid. The tenant gained most of the rights of the owner. Accordingly, he could maintain ''actio vectigalis in rem'' against any one to recover possession of the land thus leased. Under certain circumstances, the land returned to the owner, as in the case of the death of the ''emphyteuta'' intestate, non-payment of the rent or taxes for three years (or two years in case of land held of the
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), lapse of time if a term was fixed in the original agreement, ''contractus emphyteuseos'', which was a specific contract and neither an ordinary lease nor a sale. The rights of the ''emphyteuta'' embraced the full use of the land and its products and were alienable and transferable by testament or ''ab intestato''. ''Emphyteusis'' is still in use in countries such as Sri Lanka, Germany,
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,
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,
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,
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, and
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and, until relatively recently, in
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.


See also

*
Ground rent As a legal term, ground rent specifically refers to regular payments made by a holder of a leasehold property to the freeholder or a superior leaseholder, as required under a lease. In this sense, a ground rent is created when a freehold piece of ...
*
Emphyteutic lease An emphyteutic lease is a type of real estate contract specifying that the lessee must improve the property with construction. The term is commonly used in Quebec and France. These sorts of leases are usually associated with government properties. ...
*
Leasehold estate A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to hold land or property in which a lessee or a tenant holds rights of real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord. Although a tenant does hold rights to real property, a l ...
*
Perpetual usufruct Perpetual usufruct (right of perpetual usufruct, RPU) is the English-language term often used by Polish lawyers to describe the Polish version of public ground lease. It is usually granted for 99 years, but never shorter than 40 years, and enable ...


References

Civil law (legal system) Real property law {{law-stub