Principle of public notice

It refers to the principle of showing changes in rights in an external manner that can be recognized by external means. In particular, changes in real rights such as the transfer of ownership of real estate and the establishment of a mortgage are powerful rights that involve control over things and are also rights that are the premise of transactions, so they should be publicly announced, and the Civil Code stipulates that unless they are registered, they cannot be asserted against third parties, as stipulated in the Real Estate Registration Act (Article 177 of the Civil Code). In other words, since registration is the only method of public announcement that requires perfection, the effect of the change in real rights occurs between the parties of the change in real rights even without registration, but unless registration is made, it cannot be asserted against third parties. There are also foreign legislations that thoroughly enforce the principle of public announcement, making registration a requirement for effectiveness and stipulating that the effect of the change in real rights does not occur unless registration is made. For changes in real rights of movable property, delivery is required to be asserted (Article 178 of the Civil Code). This delivery is interpreted leniently, and even if the buyer of movable property changes possession by leaving the object with the seller (Civil Code Article 183), the buyer can claim ownership of the movable property against a third party as if he or she had received delivery. The principle of public notice is also recognized in other cases, such as the assignment of a named claim (Civil Code Article 467), the notification of marriage (Civil Code Article 739), the registration of the establishment of a company (Company Law Article 49), the transfer of rights on a bill of exchange (Bill of Exchange Law Articles 11 and 13), and the registration of the transfer of a patent right (Patent Law Article 98), and it is said that important changes in rights should be publicly notified in a manner specific to each case.

[Ken Kawai]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

権利関係の変動を外形的手段で外部に認識しうるように示すという原則をいう。とくに不動産の所有権の移転や抵当権の設定のような物権の変動は、物権が物の支配を内容とする強力な権利であり、しかも取引の前提となる権利であるから、これを公示すべきものとされ、民法は、不動産登記法の定めるところにより、これを登記しないと第三者に対抗することができないとしている（民法177条）。すなわち、公示の方法として登記を対抗要件とするにとどめるので、物権の変動の当事者間では登記をしなくても物権変動の効果は生じるが、登記をしないとこれを第三者に主張することができないとする。公示の原則を徹底して登記を効力要件とし、登記をしなければ物権変動の効果が生じないとする外国の立法もある。動産の物権変動については、引渡しが対抗要件とされる（民法178条）。この引渡しは緩やかに解され、たとえば動産の買い主が目的物を売り主に預けておくという占有改定（民法183条）をしたときでも、買い主は引渡しを受けたとして、第三者に対し、動産の所有権の主張をすることができる。公示の原則は、ほかに、指名債権の譲渡（民法467条）、婚姻の届出（民法739条）、会社の設立の登記（会社法49条）、手形上の権利の移転（手形法11条・13条）、特許権移転の登録（特許法98条）などの場合に認められており、重要な権利関係の変動をそれぞれの場合に特有の方法で公示すべきものとされている。

［川井　健］

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