Studying the Concept of Numerus Clausus of Property Rights: A Comparative Study of French, German, Spanish and Islamic Legal Systems

Numerus Clausus, in the law of property, means that private individuals can only use the forms which the Legislator has previously specified in the field of rights in rem and have no authorization to create new forms of such rights. The attitudes of legal systems toward the said rule are not of a similar character. While some countries such as Germany by no means grant permission to private individuals to breach Numerus Clausus, some other legal systems such as Spanish and Islamic ones have accepted the Numerus Apertus system. In this regard, French legal system is considered as the middle approach of these two viewpoints. Although the primary principle in this country is that property rights are limited to those set forth in law, under some circumstances the individuals can create rights of an in rem nature.