How does the court determine vehicle ownership?
1 Answers
Motor vehicle registration certificate holder is generally regarded as the owner of the motor vehicle. In special circumstances, the actual investor should be considered as the decisive basis for determining vehicle ownership, rather than using public security authorities' motor vehicle registration as the indicator of ownership transfer. Concepts of actual vehicle owner vs. nominal owner: Article 71 of the General Principles of Civil Law stipulates: "Property ownership refers to the owner's rights to lawfully possess, use, benefit from, and dispose of their property." This shows ownership represents complete real right, exclusive right, absolute right, and right in rem. After the seller delivers the vehicle, they essentially lose the rights to possess, use, benefit from, and dispose of the vehicle. Their exercise of vehicle ownership becomes defective and virtually impossible, as the nominal owner can no longer actually control or benefit from the vehicle. China's vehicle registration system does not equate to ownership registration: According to the publicity methods of property rights, civil law theory uniformly considers delivery as the sole publicity method for movable property rights changes, while registration serves as the publicity method for immovable property rights. Following the principle of statutory property rights, the types, content, validity, and publicity methods (delivery, registration) of property rights should be stipulated by law, excluding administrative regulations, local regulations, and administrative rules. Current motor vehicle registration provisions are only established by departmental rules and documents issued by the Ministry of Public Security, which contradicts the principle of statutory property rights.
