The College held a lecture on the Real Estate Registration and Change of Ownership from a Sino-French Comparative Perspective on the afternoon of 26 Nov, 2024. The lecture was given by Ms.Valérie Delnaudm, Director of the Civil and Seal Affairs Department of the French Ministry of Justice. This lecture was part of the College’s Sino-French Law Exchange Serial Activities.
Dean of the College Prof. Xie Zhiyong, Regional Liaison Magistrate for Southeast Asia and the Far East of the French Embassy Mr. Jean-François Redonnet and President of the French Association of Notaries Mr. Bertrand Savoure presented opening remarks.
Xie first welcomed the French delegation and then reviewed the history of cooperation between the College and institutions such as the French Embassy and the French Foundation for Civil Law. He stressed that China and France have a bright future in cooperation in foreign-related legal personnel training and other areas, and that the College and the delegation should strive to establish a cooperation framework as soon as possible, which is of great significance for deepening bilateral cooperation and exchanges. He said that the lecture has a strong theoretical and practical significance and wished the event a complete success.
Redonnet thanked the College for the invitation and reviewed the strong cooperative relationship between the two sides, saying that the French Embassy attaches great importance to this exchange activity, in particular, the event was included in the 14th China-France Law and Justice Exchange Week. He pointed out that this year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and France, and that this event once again proves the vitality of China's legal cooperation.
Savoure thanked the College for the invitation and for organising the event, then introduced the central role of French notaries in safeguarding the stability of French law and looked forward to exchanges with Chinese experts and scholars.
After that, Delnaud introduced the history, function, scope and effect of the French real estate registration system. She highlighted the need for reform of the real estate registration system in France, the political and legal framework and the results of the reform. She pointed out that the 1955 decree regulating the French real estate registry was outdated and that the real estate registry was inefficient and undermined the legal stability of transactions. Delnaud said the reforms were aimed at improving legal stability and efficiency and that a reform bill to register French real estate was expected to start the legislative approval process in early 2025 and was expected to take effect on 31 December in the 2028.
In the ensuing deliberations, Mr. Pierre Jean Meyssan, First Vice-President of the French Association of Notaries, Prof. Charles Gijsbers from the Université Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas, Mr. Olivier Vix, Director of the China Programme of the French Association of Notaries, Prof. Gao Shengping from the Renmin University of China Law School, Prof. Liu Zhihui from the School of Law of CUPL, Prof. Liu Jia’an from the Civil, Commercial and Economic Law School of CUPL and Prof. Tian Shiyong, Director of the Center for Research and Evaluation of Legal Education of CUPL commented on the historical functions, scope and effectiveness of French real estate registration.
A/Prof. Luo Yao from the College and other teachers and students participated in the Q&A, which ended with heated discussions between the two sides. Both sides said they looked forward to more similar activities in the future to promote exchanges and cooperation between China and France in the field of law.
