Superficies as one of the legal forms of land use in farming activities

Abstract

The relevance of the study is due to the emergence of new agricultural entities in Ukraine – farms of various types, which need not only to engage in agricultural production but also to develop other areas of activity, in particular, construction. The absence of settlement in the farm legislation of land use based on superficial agreements and the possibility of further disputes between the parties is one of the grounds for conducting this study. The purpose of the study is to outline the formation and development of the superficies institute in Ukraine during 1990-2022 and establish the specific features of introducing it into farming activities. The study is conducted using a complex of general scientific and special methods of cognition. The dialectical method helped to determine the regularities of the development of the institution of superficies from the time of the Roman Empire to the present. The comparative legal method is used in the examination of the formation and development of farm land use in the modern Ukrainian state. In the course of the study, a historical and legal analysis of the peculiarities of using someone else’s land plot, which has a intended purpose-construction, is conducted. A thorough comparative legal analysis of the norms of the Civil and Land codes of Ukraine concerning superficial land use is conducted. Originalities of legal regulation of land use in farms of independent Ukraine are considered. It is proposed to supplement Article 12 of the Law of Ukraine “On farming” by granting farms the right to conclude emphyteusis and superficies agreements. The main terms of superficies’ contracts – the right to use someone else’s land plot for development, are outlined. The specific features of the conclusion of such transactions are determined, it is noted that the registration of a superficial contract in the State Register of property rights to immovable property is an electronic proof of its conclusion. The practical value of the study lies in the fact that the proposals formed on the basis of its results can be used to improve the current legislation.