Supreme Court: "Even with Bunnokijigwon on Ancestors' Graves on Others' Land, Usage Fee Must Be Paid"

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] Even if one acquires rights to adjacent land by managing a grave for a long time, the Supreme Court has ruled that land usage fees must be paid if the landowner's permission was not obtained.

On the 29th, the Supreme Court en banc upheld the appellate court's partial ruling in favor of the plaintiff in the rent claim lawsuit filed by Mr. A against Mr. B.

In 2014, Mr. A filed a lawsuit demanding payment for land use from Mr. B, who had been managing his ancestor's grave on Mr. A's land. At that time, Mr. A had purchased the land through auction, but the land contained Mr. B's ancestor's grave. Mr. A argued that since he acquired ownership of the land in October 2014, Mr. B should pay land usage fees, but Mr. B refused, claiming he had acquired a grave site right (bunmyo giji-gwon).

The grave site right (bunmyo giji-gwon) is a right to occupy adjacent land if one has installed a grave without the landowner's permission but has openly managed the grave site for over 20 years without using force.

The first trial court dismissed Mr. A's claim, citing previous Supreme Court precedents that if the grave site right is acquired over time, land usage fees do not have to be paid.

However, the appellate court judged that because Mr. B occupied land near the grave, Mr. A would face difficulties using other parts of the land. The court stated, "In reality, landowners face many restrictions on the use of the remaining land due to the existence of the grave site right," and ruled, "It is highly unfair to consider that even land usage fees for the grave site portion cannot be received."

On the same day, the Supreme Court en banc also held that even if the grave site right is acquired, if the landowner claims land usage fees, the person who installed the grave must pay usage fees. The court ruled, "Even if the grave site right is acquired by prescription through peaceful and public occupation of the grave site for 20 years after installing the grave, the holder of the grave site right has the obligation to pay land usage fees from the date the landowner claims such fees."

However, two justices, Ahn Cheolsang and Lee Dongwon, dissented, stating, "If the grave site right is acquired by prescription, the holder of the grave site right has no obligation to pay land usage fees."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.