Legal Certainty in Real Estate Transactions

This comparative research was triggered by the assessment of property registration law published in the World Bank Doing Business reports (DB). The international and interdisciplinary team aimed to assess how legal certainty was imagined and put into practice in French and English law, using commercial real estate as a case study. Not only does this study identify the economic impact of the law in both jurisdictions, it also looks at the practitioners' functions in dealing with commercial real estate transactions. In other words, it analyzes the topical position of practitioners, such as the French notaires and the role of solicitors in England. Nowadays, the profession of notaires is confronted by numerous challenges. For instance, nationality requirement for its access has been ruled by the ECJ as contrary to the freedom of establishment and article 49 TFEU, and not justified by "the exercise of public authority." In this study, the authors argue that the actual nature and the quality of the work done by the practitioners should be considered, as well as financial cost and delays. They also argue that a liberalization of professions, such as civil law notaires, would have very little impact on the cost associated with doing business. As a matter of fact, both the English and the French mechanisms are very similar in their objectives and outcome even though they handle the same transaction differently because of the culturally different relevant angles.  (Series:Ius Commune Europaeum, Vol. 147) [Subject: Property Law, Commercial Real Estate Law]