12 February 2025
roadmap
slovakia
A legal shift in ownership rights under Slovak law
Recent Slovak court rulings have had a significant impact on property law, particularly regarding the principle of nemo plus iuris, which holds that no one can transfer more rights than they possess. This decision marks a potential shift in how property rights are recognised and could impact future cases involving the acquisition of ownership from non-owners under good faith. Below we examine the development and most important changes brought by recent judicial practice.
For many years, Slovak law has maintained that only a rightful owner can transfer ownership, except for a few legislatively defined cases. However, a 2016 decision by the Slovak Constitutional Court (I. ÚS 549/2015) challenged this approach, suggesting that a good-faith acquirer could gain ownership even from a non-owner, provided they genuinely believed the seller was the rightful owner. This decision was considered both groundbreaking and controversial, as it weakened the legal certainty that original owners could not lose their property without their knowledge. It also introduced increased risk in property transactions, particularly for owners who might be unaware of changes in the land registry.
In 2021, the Slovak courts reassessed this more lenient approach. Both the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court began to return to the traditional view that ownership rights must be strictly protected and exceptions to nemo plus iuris strictly limited. In its April 2021 decision (1VObdo/2/2020), the Supreme Court strongly reasserted that ownership can only be transferred by the legal owner, and that an acquirer's good faith is insufficient to override this principle. This decision emphasised that property buyers must ensure they are dealing with the rightful owner before completing any transaction.
The Slovak courts have made it clear that exceptions to nemo plus iuris are narrowly defined and apply only in specific circumstances outlined by law. The exceptions include acquisition of property by an unlawful heir, property transfers within bankruptcy proceedings, acquisition of movable goods in ordinary business transactions, transfers of securities and certain enforcement proceedings. Outside of these explicitly defined situations, ownership cannot be acquired from a non-owner, regardless of the buyer's good faith. This represents a clear rejection of the broader protections for good-faith acquirers proposed by the previous Constitutional Court ruling.
Recent decisions signal a return to a more conservative approach to property rights in Slovakia. The courts have reinforced the principle that ownership can only be transferred by the rightful owner, with exceptions limited to specific legislatively defined cases. For buyers, this shift highlights the importance of thorough due diligence when purchasing property. Simply relying on good faith will no longer suffice in most cases, and buyers must ensure they are dealing with the rightful owner to avoid future legal complications.
authors: Zuzana Hnátová, Tomáš Šilhánek
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