1896de Book3 Chapter03 Title04

GERMAN CIVIL CODE OF 1896

• Based on the English Translation by: Wang, Chung Hui (1907). The German Civil Code, translated and annotated with historical introduction and appendices. London: Stevens and Sons. [available on Archive.org]
• Original Version in German.

Book III. Low of Things.

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Chapter III. Ownership.

Title IV. Claims arising from Ownership.

Section 985.

• The owner of a thing may demand its return from any possessor.

Section 986.

• [I] The possessor may refuse to return the thing if he or the indirect possessor from whom he derives his right to possession is entitled to the possession as against the owner. If the indirect possessor is not authorised as against the owner to surrender possession to the possessor, the owner may require the possessor to return the thing to the indirect possessor, or, if the latter cannot or will not resume possession, to himself.
• [II] The possessor of a thing which has been alienated under 931 by assignment of the claim for its return, may set up against the new owner any defences which he has against the assigned claim.

Section 987.

• [I] A possessor shall return to the owner the emoluments which he draws after action commenced.
• [II] If the possessor after action commenced does not draw emoluments which he might draw according to the rules of proper husbandry, he is bound to compensate the owner in so far as fault is imputable to him.

Section 988.

• If a possessor who possesses a thing as belonging to him, or for the purpose of exercising over the thing a right of use which does not actually belong to him, has acquired the possession gratuitously, he is bound as against the owner to return the emoluments which he has drawn before action commenced, under the provisions relating to the return of unjustified benefits.

Section 989.

• The possessor, from the date of action commenced, is responsible to the owner for any damage which arises by reason of the fact that the thing, in consequence of his fault, deteriorates, perishes, or cannot be returned by him for any other reason.

Section 990.

• [I] If the possessor, at the time of acquiring possession, was in bad faith, he is liable to the owner under the provisions of 987, 989, as from the time of the acquisition. If the possessor subsequently learns that he is not entitled to possession, he is liable in the same manner as from the time of obtaining the knowledge.
• [II] A more extensive liability of the possessor on account of default remains unaffected.

Section 991.

• [I] If a possessor derives his right to possession from an indirect possessor, the provisions of 990 apply in respect of emoluments only if the conditions of 990 exist with reference to the indirect possessor also, or if action has been commenced against him.
• [II] If the possessor was in good faith at the time of acquiring possession he is, nevertheless, responsible to the owner as from the time of acquiring possession, for the damage specified in 989, in so far as he is responsible to the indirect possessor.

Section 992.

• If possessor has obtained possession by unlawful interference or by a criminal act, he is liable to the owner under the provisions relating to compensation for unlawful acts.

Section 993.

• [I] If the conditions specified in 987 to 992 do not exist, the possessor shall, under the provisions relating to the return of unjustified benefits, return the fruits which he has drawn, in so far as such fruits are not to be regarded as the produce of the thing according to the rules of proper husbandry; for the rest he is neither bound to return emoluments nor to make compensation for them.
• [II] For the time for which the emoluments remain with the possessor, the provisions of 101 apply.

Section 994.

• [I] The possessor may require from the owner reimbursement for the necessary outlay incurred upon the thing. He shall not, however, be reimbursed for the ordinary costs of preservation for the time for which the emoluments remain with him.
• [II] If, after action commenced or after the creation of the liability specified in 990, the possessor incurs necessary outlay, the duty of the owner to make reimbursement is determined according to the provisions relating to management of affairs without mandate.

Section 995.

• Necessary outlay within the meaning of 994 includes also any payments which the possessor has made on account of charges on the thing. For the time for which the emoluments remain with the possessor, he is entitled to be reimbursed only for payments on such extraordinary charges as are deemed to be imposed upon the corpus of the thing.

Section 996.

• The possessor may require reimbursement for unnecessary outlay only where it is incurred before action commenced, and before the creation of the liability specified in 990, and the value of the thing is increased by such outlay at the time at which the owner recovers the thing.

Section 997.

• [I] If the possessor has attached to the thing another thing as an essential component part he may separate and retain it. The provisions of 258 apply.
• [II] The right to separate the thing is barred if the possessor may not require reimbursement of outlay under 994, par. 1, sentence 2, or if the separation is of no use to him, or if he is reimbursed for at least the value which the component part would have for him after the separation.

Section 998.

• If a piece of agricultural land is to be returned the owner shall make reimbursement for any outlay which the possessor has incurred upon fruits which are not yet gathered, but are, according to the rules of proper husbandry, to be gathered before the end of the agricultural year, in so far as such outlay is incurred in accordance with the rules of proper husbandry and does not exceed the value of the fruits.

Section 999.

• [I] A possessor may demand reimbursement of outlay incurred by a former possessor whose successor in title he has become, to the same extent as the former possessor could have demanded it, if he had had to return the thing.
• [II] The obligation of the owner to make reimbursement of outlay extends also to outlay which had been incurred before he acquired the ownership.

Section 1000.

• The possessor may refuse to return the thing until his claim for reimbursement of outlay is satisfied. He does not have a right of lien if he has obtained the thing by a wilful unlawful act.

Section 1001.

• The possessor may enforce his claim for reimbursement of outlay only if the owner recovers the thing, or ratifies the outlay. Before the time of ratifying the outlay, the owner may relieve himself of the claim by returning the thing recovered. The ratification is deemed to have been given, if the owner accepts the thing offered to him by the possessor with reservation of the claim.

Section 1002.

• [I] If the possessor returns the thing to the owner, the claim for reimbursement of outlay is extinguished upon the expiration of one month, or in the case of land upon the expiration of six months, after the return of the thing, unless within such period the claim is enforced in court, or the owner ratifies the outlay.
• [II] The provisions of 203, 206, 207 applicable to prescription apply mutatis mutandis to these periods.

Section 1003.

• [I] The possessor may summon the owner, stating the amount required as reimbursement, to declare within a fixed reasonable period whether or not he ratifies the outlay. After the expiration of the period the possessor is, if ratification is not made in due time, entitled to seek satisfaction out of the thing under the provisions relating to sale of pledges, or, in the case of land, under the provisions relating to compulsory execution on immoveable property.
• [II] If the owner disputes the claim before the expiration of the period, the possessor may satisfy himself out of the thing only if, after a determination by a non-appellable decree of the amount of the outlay, he has summoned the owner to make a declaration within a fixed reasonable period, and the period has expired; the right to seek satisfaction out of the thing is barred, if ratification is given in due time.

Section 1004.

• [I] If ownership is impaired in any other way than by deprivation or withholding of possession, the owner may require the disturber to remove the injury. If a continuance of the injury is to be apprehended, the owner may apply for an injunction.
• [II] The claim is barred if the owner is bound to submit to the injury.

Section 1005.

• If a thing is situated upon land which is in the possession of a person other than the owner of the thing, the latter has against the possessor of the land the claim specified in 867.

Section 1006.

• [I] It is presumed in favour of a possessor of a moveable that he is owner of such moveable. This does not apply, however, as against a former possessor from whom the thing has been stolen, or who has lost it, or has otherwise been deprived of it, unless it is money or an instrument payable to bearer.
• [II] It is presumed in favour of a former possessor of a moveable that he was owner of such moveable during the time of his possession.
• [III] In the case of indirect possession the presumption applies to the indirect possessor.

Section 1007.

• [I] A person who has had a moveable in his possession may. require the return of the thing from its possessor, if the latter was in bad faith at the time of acquiring possession.
• [II] If the thing was stolen from the former possessor, or was lost, or if he was otherwise deprived of it, he may require its return even from a possessor in good faith, unless the latter is owner of the thing, or had been deprived of possession of the thing before the time of possession of the former possessor. This provision does not apply to money nor to instruments payable to bearer.
• [III] The claim is barred if the former possessor was in bad faith at the time of acquiring possession, or if he has relinquished possession. For the rest the provisions of 986 to 1003 apply mutatis mutandis.