Relocation of the Encumbrance
Arif Barış ÖzbilenA parcel of land may be encumbered in favour of another property such that the servient owner must permit the owner of the dominant property to exercise certain rights over it to or may not exercise certain of the rights attaching to his or her property for the benefit of the owner of the dominant property. According to article 791 of Turkish Civil Code, if only part of a property is affected by the exercise of an easement, the servient landowner is entitled to request that the right be transferred to another location which is no less suitable for the beneficiary provided he or she can show a legitimate interest and bears the cost. This study aims to examine the conditions of realization of the change of the place where the easement is used and to present the general principles and legal consequences of the relocation.
İrtifak Hakkının Kullanıldığı Yerin Değiştirilmesi
Arif Barış ÖzbilenEşya üzerinde hak sahibine kullanma, yararlanma veya hem kullanma hem de yararlanma yetkilerini vererek sınırlı bir hâkimiyet sağlayan mutlak haklar, irtifak hakları olarak adlandırılmaktadır. Medenî Kanunun 791. maddesi, yüklü taşınmazın yalnızca belli bir kısmında kullanılması kaydıyla kurulan irtifak hakları bakımından, yüklü taşınmaz malikinin, kendi menfaatini ispat etmek, giderleri üstlenmek ve irtifak hakkı sahibinin hakkını kullanmasını zorlaştırmamak koşuluyla; irtifakın, taşınmazın başka bir yerine naklini isteyebileceğini öngörmektedir. Bu çalışmada temel olarak, irtifak hakkının kullanılmakta olduğu yerin değiştirilmesinin gerçekleşme koşullarının irdelenmesi ve yer değişikliğine ilişkin genel esaslar ile hukukî sonuçların ortaya konulması amaçlanmaktadır.
Absolute rights that grant limited control over properties by allowing the rights to use or to benefit (or both of these rights) to the right holder are called easement rights. A parcel of land may be encumbered in favour of another property such that the servient landowner must permit the owner of the dominant property to exercise certain rights over it or refrain from exercising certain rights attached to his or her property for the benefit of the owner of the dominant property. As a rule, this relationship between the servient landowner and the beneficiary of the easement shall continue in accordance with the conditions agreed in the easement agreement until the easement ends. However, some situations that arise during this relationship may make it unbearably difficult for the servient landowner to fulfill these obligations against the beneficiary of the easement. In the event of such circumstances, the relationship between the parties may need to be rearranged in order to restore the balance deteriorated against the owner. The fact that the place used by the beneficiary of the easement gained significant meaning and significant value in terms of the servient landowner from the moment of establishment of the easement, is considered a situation which aggravates the obligations undertaken by the landowner against the beneficiary. That is why the legislator felt the need to introduce a special regulation in Article 791 of the Turkish Civil Code. According to this regulation if only part of a property is affected by the exercise of an easement, the servient owner is entitled to request that the right be transferred to another location which is no less suitable for the beneficiary, provided that he or she can show a legitimate interest and bears the cost,. He or she is entitled to do so even if the easement is recorded in the land register as being in a specific location. It should be acknowledged that this provision constitutes a special application of article 786 of Turkish Civil Code. According to this article, the beneficiary is entitled to take all measures necessary to preserve and exercise the easement. However, he or she is obliged to exercise his or her rights in as benign a way as possible. In this respect, it would not be wrong to say that article 791 of the Turkish Civil Code is an extension of the basic principle that the beneficiary of the easement should not act in contradiction to the interests of the owner while exercising his right. Indeed, especially in cases where article 791 of the Turkish Civil Code has found its application, that is, it has been decided that the easement is to be used only in a certain place, the existence of the easement does not completely eliminate the interests of the landowner in making use of the immovable property as efficiently and effectively as possible. The existence of the easement prevents him only from exercising some of his authorities provided by the right to property. Therefore, the legislator has accepted that if the needs of the real estate change after the establishment of the easement, the landowner may request under certain conditions to change the place where the easement is used. In this way, the landowner could be able to keep an important authority to operate his property in an efficient manner even this property is charged with an easement. This study, aims to examine the conditions of realization of change of place where the easement is used and to present general principles and legal consequences of the relocation.