Bijural Terminology Records

Common Law

natural person

Civil Law

natural person

Title of the Legislative Text

Federal Real Property Act, S.C. 1991, c. 50 (title changed to Federal Real Property and Federal Immovables Act by the Federal Law-Civil Law Harmonization Act, No. 1, S.C. 2001, c. 4, s. 10)

Provision

  5. (2) Federal real property within Canada may, at the discretion of the Minister of Justice, be granted by any instrument by which, under the laws in force in the province in which the property is situated, real property may be transferred by a private person.

Problem

The terms "private person" and sujets de droit privé are foreign to civil law, which uses the term personne physique instead, conveyed in most cases by "natural person" in English.

Solution

In the English version, the term "private person" is replaced by "natural person". In the French version, the term sujets de droit privé is replaced by personne physique. These terms are also used in common law.

Harmonized Provision

  5. (2) Federal real property and federal immovables within Canada may, at the discretion of the Minister of Justice, be granted or conceded, as the case may be, by any instrument or act by which, under the laws in force in the province in which the property is situated, real property and immovables may be transferred by a natural person.

Federal Law-Civil Law Harmonization Act, No. 1, S.C. 2001, c. 4, s. 15(3)