Concept and essence of actions for declaration of the right to ownership

The author of the article notes various characteristics of the legal nature of the action for declaration of the right to ownership as: a complaint supplementing a vindicatory action; the type of negatory action; stand-alone action. It has been argued that declaration of the right to ownership may be an independent requirement for protecting the right to ownership, as well as a requirement for the declaration of the right to ownership may be stated together with other requirements that, in aggregate, should ensure the effective protection of the right to ownership. The author has supported the approach of scholars about the dualistic nature of an action for declaration of the right to ownership (pecuniary legal and binding legal nature). It has been substantiated that an action for declaration of the right to ownership in pecuniary legal relations is a complaint of an owner to a person who does not recognize or challenges the right to ownership, or to a person who can potentially consider oneself as the owner of the property in case if the owner lost document certifying his / her right to ownership. An action for declaration of the right to ownership in binding legal relations is a complaint of a person who strives to become the owner of the property (potential owner) on declaration of the right to ownership to a person who has not duly performed his / her obligations to acquire the right to ownership by a plaintiff or does not recognize or denies this right. Filing an action for declaration of the right to ownership in binding legal relations is allowed, unless there are other court or extrajudicial proceedings for acquiring or confirming the right to ownership. It has been proved that limitation of action period is not subject if an action for declaration of the right to ownership in pecuniary legal relations is filed, when there is an uncertainty of property relations, when the right to ownership is disputed or is not recognized, or documents certifying its right to ownership are lost. If an action for declaration of the right to ownership in binding legal relations or an action for declaration of the right to ownership and for releasing the property from attachment, then a general limitation of action period is applied to such requirements, whose running begins from the date when a person found out or could find out about his / her right’s violation, or from the date when a person found out or could find out about arrest of his / her property.