This article dealt with significant Supreme Court decisions in civil cases in 2023, aiming to provide a scholarly perspective on their implications. This article concentrated on twelve decisions, including two related to general provisions of civil la...
This article dealt with significant Supreme Court decisions in civil cases in 2023, aiming to provide a scholarly perspective on their implications. This article concentrated on twelve decisions, including two related to general provisions of civil law, four related to property law, four related to the law of obligation, and two related to family law.
Firstly, the two decisions on general provisions of civil law addressed issues such as how to determine the person who is supposed to preside over ancestral rites and how to explore the hypothetical intentions of the parties in cases where both parties had mutual mistakes of motive.
Next, the four decisions on property law dealt with following issues; 1) the validity of perpetual lease agreements defining the lease period as 'permanent', 2) whether the period of prescription of a claim based on acquisitive prescription does not run if the possessor who has already fulfilled the requirement of acquisitive prescription transferred the possession to another person, 3) whether the person who had acquired possession by prohibited interference on the original possessor is entitled to restore possession in case the possession of the former was deprived by the latter by prohibited interference and 4) whether a third-party acquirer of mortgaged property can exercise the lien by claiming reimbursement if he/she expended necessary or useful funds to preserve and improve the property.
Following that, the four decisions on the law of obligation addressed following issues; 1) when it would be considered improper exercise of judge’s discretion to reduce a specified sum due upon failure of performance, 2) whether a creditor obtaining a seizure order from the court is obligated to return proceeds due to the principle of unjust enrichment in cases where an auction turns out to be invalid, 3) under what circumstances damages equivalent to fixed costs can be recognized in cases of illegal industrial actions, and 4) the burden of proof and degree of proving facts required for patients in medical lawsuits.
Lastly, the two decisions on family law addressed disputes regarding whether a spouse of the inheritee would inherit exclusively if all sons and daughters renounce their inheritance, and what considerations should be taken into account to recognize an invalid will as valid gift effective on death under the principle of conversion of invalid juristic acts into valid ones.
This article elucidated the logical structures of each decision and provided deep analysis, facilitating a comprehensive understanding of these decisions.