The Ownership Issues On Buried Objects

In recent years, nationwide cases of discovered ebony ownership arouse the publicconcern. Meanwhile, the legal attributes and property of ebony become a hot issue both intheoretical and practical field. The article takes a case of “high-priced ebony” in Pengzhou,Sichuan Province as the analysis object and guides readers into the controversial topictowards buried-object ownership. On one hand, the author summarizes the specific features ofburied-object by analyzing the worldwide judicial interpretation and legislation models ofburied-object and then gives his opinion towards to the question of “whether ebony belongs tothe category of buried-object”. On the other hand, he raises a doubt to the state-owning waywith respect of the discovered buried-object in existing law of China and shows his viewpointthat the ownership of discovered buried-object should be re-defined depending on situations.In author’s view, the discoverer ought to acquire the ownership of the buried-object finitelyand he owns the right to get payment. Afterwards, the author suggests that the legislature orthe highest judicial organ to reconstruct our own regime of buried-object discovery to balancethe interests between the discoverer and the state. So that such dispute and contradiction canbe solved and avoided in the future.The first part reviews the case of “high-priced ebony” taken placed in Pengzhou, SichuanProvince and regards it as a dispute over property between the civil and the state. With respectto the legal attribute and property of ebony, this part concludes and integrates various viewsfrom theoretical and practical circle, paving the way for the following detailed analysistowards ebony attribute.The second part gives a deep discussion towards ebony’s legal attribute. By analyzingvarious views from theoretical and practical circle, the author demonstrates that ebony can notbe viewed as natural fruits, mineral resources, relics or fossils. It should belong toburied-object. Afterwards, the author quotes legal provisions from France, Germany, Italia aswell as the interpretation from Chinese academic circles, further demonstrates that the legalattribute of ebony is buried-object. And ebony’s ownership should be applied to the legal ruleof buried-object property.The third part contrastively analyzes the legislation models under legal rules ofburied-object from France, Germany, Switzerland as well as Tang code of ancient China.Then, it demonstrates that it’s reasonable for the discoverer to acquire the ownership of the buried-object finitely and own the right to get payment. And finally, author points out theirrationality of state ownership of buried-object in China.The forth part points out the bias of China’s legislation and summarizes threecharacteristics of buried-object rules by analyzing the property dispute of ebony. Thecharacteristics lie in: the supremacy of national interests, obligation prior to right and thecompulsivity of fulfilling obligations. The author stresses that the law of state ownership ofburied-objects is not reasonable. It not only goes against the utility of public resources, butalso leads to great idling loss.The fifth part proposes some advices on legislation: clearly clarify the definition ofburied-object, explain the meaning of “discover”, increase legal procedure and re-define theownership of buried-object. From the above four aspects, the legislature or the highest judicialorgan can reconstruct our own regime of buried-object discovery.