Qualification of Easements in Private International Law: Continental and Commom Law Approaches

This master dissertation is aimed at examining the legal institute of the private easement in countries that have continental legal systems and legal systems based on common law (Russia, Germany, the United Kingdom, the USA) and the main approaches to applicable law in the situation when the easement has a foreign element. The master dissertation consists of an introduction, three chapters, seven sections, twelve paragraphs, a conclusion and a bibliography. Chapter 1 covers the definition of an easement, kinds of easements, grounds for the origin and the termination of them, the approaches to applicable law to private easements with a foreign element in Russian and German law. Chapter 2 studies the definition of an easement, kinds of easements, grounds for the origin and the termination of them, the approaches to applicable law to the private easement with a foreign element in English law and law of the USA. Chapter 3 examines the definition of legal qualification, the main ways to solving this private international law problem, in particular, the way to solve the problem of qualification of the private easement containing foreign element. Based on this research the following conclusions were made: firstly, material easement regulation in the countries with continental legal system distinguishes greatly from material easement regulation in the countries whose legal system is based on common law; secondly, the way to solve the problem of qualification of the private easement containing a foreign element is lex causae qualification; thirdly, depesage (regulation of the relation aspects by the norms of different legal systems) may arise in the process of qualifying the private easement with a foreign element.