A distinction is made between private and public law: private law provisions are agreed between two parties, whereas public law provisions result from decisions taken by the legislator or the authorities.

With public law restrictions on landownership, the options for the use of private and public land are restricted by one or more legal provisions. Here, public interests take precedence over private interests. In other words: public law takes precedence over private law. 

Two horizontal arrows of equal size pointing towards one another indicate that the provisions of private law apply between two parties with equal rights.

The purchase of a plot of land is a transaction carried out under private law. Buyer and seller agree on a price, and jointly specify aspects such as the date on which the rights and obligations pertaining to the property are transferred from the seller to the buyer. Both parties have equal rights and are ultimately at liberty to decide whether or not to conclude the transaction. Private law provisions are entered in the land register and are already accessible to the public today.

A large arrow pointing downwards towards a smaller arrow pointing upwards means that public law takes precedence over private law.

A public law restriction on landownership results from decisions taken by the legislator or the authorities, and is legally binding for the owner of the property. As a rule, when a new restriction is to be imposed, the involved parties have the option of participating in the consultation procedure, filing an objection or contesting the ruling. However, once a decision has been finalised, the restriction becomes legally binding and cannot be negotiated or reversed. The PLR Cadastre lists the most important restrictions that apply to each plot of land, and explains them in a clearly comprehensible manner.

With respect to public law restrictions on landownership, the dividing line between land register and PLR Cadastre lies between restrictions imposed in a single case (with specific individual legal acts), for example relating to a contaminated site, and landownership restrictions resulting from general rulings or decisions (for example municipal building regulations) and which apply within a specified perimeter.