This appeal addressed whether acquisitive prescription of an immovable, once completed by effective possession, can be set up against a subsequent purchaser whose title is published before the possessor seeks judgment.
The majority held that Quebec's publication regime remains primarily declarative and does not displace rights already acquired by prescription.
It concluded the judicial application under art. 2918 C.C.Q. serves to recognize pre-existing ownership rather than constitutively create it for priority purposes in this context.
Because the respondent's possession was peaceful, continuous, public, and unequivocal for the required period, her prescriptive right prevailed over the appellants' later registered title.
The appeal was dismissed, with a dissent treating judgment as constitutive and non-retroactive.
