Accessio (Roman law)

Last updated March 13, 2023

Accessio is a concept from Roman property law for acquiring ownership of property (the accessory) which is merged, or acceded to, another piece of property (the principal).^[1] Generally, the owner of the principal, whatever it may be, also became the owner of the accessory. Its usage continues in modern times in legal systems around the world incorporating Roman property law, primarily civilian legal systems.

Roman law

The most undisputed kind of accessio arises from the union of a thing with the ground; and when the union between the ground and the thing is complete, the thing belongs to whoever owns the ground. Thus if a someone builds on ground that someone else owns, the building belongs to the owner of the ground, unless it is a building of a moveable nature, as a tent; for the rule of law is superficies solo cedit. A tree belonging to one person, if planted in the ground of another person, belongs to the owner of the ground as soon as it has taken root. The same rule applies to seeds and plants.

If someone wrote on the papyrus (chartulae) or parchment (membranae) of another, the material was considered the principal, and of course the writing belonged to the owner of the paper or parchment. If a person painted a picture on someone else's wood (tabula) or whatever the materials might be, the painting was considered to be the principal (tabula picturae cedit). The principle which determined the acquisition of a new property by accessio was this—the intimate and inseparable union of the accessory with the principal. Accordingly, there might be accessio by pure accident without the intervention of any rational agent. If a piece of land was torn away by a stream from someone's land and attached to the land of another, it became the property of the person to whose land it was attached after it was firmly attached to it, but not before. This should not be confused with the case of alluvion .

The person who lost their property by accessio had as a general rule a right to be indemnified for their loss by the person who acquired the new property. The exceptions were cases of mala fides .

The term accessio is also applied to things which are the products of other things, and not added to them externally as in the case just mentioned. Every accessio of this kind belongs to the owner of the principal thing; the produce of an animal, a field or a tree belong to the owner. In some cases someone might have a right to the produce ( fructus ) of a thing, though the thing belongs to another ( usufructus ).

The term accessiones was also applied to those who were sureties or bound for others as fidejussores ( confusio ).

Modern law

Accessio has continued relevance in present times, partly due to the adoption of Roman law principles by legal systems across Europe, Africa, Asia and South America, primarily civilian legal systems.

Domestic legal systems

Legal systems across the modern world continue to employ a form of accessio. A full discussion of each legal system falls outside the scope of this article, but see specifically: South African property law, civilian property law, Scots law. Modern legal systems go further when describing accession, including all circumstances where property has been increased physically but the Roman law concept relates to merger of an accessory and principal alone.^[3] Further reading on contemporary usage of accesio in modern states can be found in (L. van Vliet, ‘Accession of Movables to Land’ (2002) 6 Edin LR 67).

Related Research Articles

In law, possession is the control a person intentionally exercises toward a thing. Like ownership, the possession of anything is commonly regulated by country under property law. In all cases, to possess something, a person must have an intention to possess it. A person may be in possession of some property.

Property law is the area of law that governs the various forms of ownership in real property (land) and personal property. Property refers to legally protected claims to resources, such as land and personal property, including intellectual property. Property can be exchanged through contract law, and if property is violated, one could sue under tort law to protect it.

Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables, to the Corpus Juris Civilis ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I. Roman law forms the basic framework for civil law, the most widely used legal system today, and the terms are sometimes used synonymously. The historical importance of Roman law is reflected by the continued use of Latin legal terminology in many legal systems influenced by it, including common law.

Adverse possession, sometimes colloquially described as "squatter's rights", is a legal principle in the Anglo-American common law under which a person who does not have legal title to a piece of property—usually land —may acquire legal ownership based on continuous possession or occupation of the property without the permission (licence) of its legal owner. The possession by a person is not adverse if they are in possession as a tenant or licensee of the legal owner.

Usucaption, also known as acquisitive prescription, is a concept found in civil law systems and has its origin in the Roman law of property.

Usufruct is a limited real right found in civil-law and mixed jurisdictions that unites the two property interests of usus and fructus:

Accession has different definitions depending upon its application.

Res nullius is a doctrine. The expression "res nullius" is a Latin term derived from private Roman law whereby res is not yet the object of rights of any specific subject. Such items are considered ownerless property and are free to be acquired by means of occupatio. Its use as a legal concept continues in modern civilian legal systems.

Alluvion, is a Roman law method of acquisition of heritable property (land). The typical cause is sediment (alluvium) deposited by a river. This sediment, legally termed the accessory, accreses a piece of land, the principal, and thus accedes to the ownership of the principal land over time.

Quicquid plantatur solo, solo cedit is a legal Latin principle related to fixtures which means that something that is or becomes affixed to the land becomes part of the land; therefore, title to the fixture is a part of the land and passes with title to the land. Consequently, whosoever owns that piece of land will also own the things attached.

Occupatio (occupation) was an original method of acquiring ownership of un-owned property by occupying with intent to own.

Specificatio is a legal concept adopted from Roman law. It is an original mode of acquisition, since it involves deriving rights over objects that are subject to pre-existing rights of ownership. This may be compared with the original modes of acquisition, and other derivative modes of acquisition, such as accession. Specificatio occurs where new property rights are established as a result of some action upon existing property that results in a change of species.

Usucapio was a concept in Roman law that dealt with the acquisition of ownership of something through possession. It was subsequently developed as a principle of civil law systems, usucaption. It is similar to the common law concept of adverse possession, or acquiring land prescriptively.

Superficies is a Latin legal term referring to anything which is placed upon and attached to the ground, and most commonly refers to a building erected on land owned by another.

Scots property law governs the rules relating to property found in the legal jurisdiction of Scotland. As a hybrid legal system with both common law and civil law heritage, Scots property law is similar, but not identical, to property law in South Africa and the American state of Louisiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South African property law</span> Important aspects of redistribution agreement

South African property law regulates the "rights of people in or over certain objects or things." It is concerned, in other words, with a person's ability to undertake certain actions with certain kinds of objects in accordance with South African law. Among the formal functions of South African property law is the harmonisation of individual interests in property, the guarantee and protection of individual rights with respect to property, and the control of proprietary relationships between persons, as well as their rights and obligations. The protective clause for property rights in the Constitution of South Africa stipulates those proprietary relationships which qualify for constitutional protection. The most important social function of property law in South Africa is to manage the competing interests of those who acquire property rights and interests. In recent times, restrictions on the use of and trade in private property have been on the rise.

Furtum was a delict of Roman law comparable to the modern offence of theft despite being a civil and not criminal wrong. In the classical law and later, it denoted the contrectatio ("handling") of most types of property with a particular sort of intention – fraud and in the later law, a view to gain. It is unclear whether a view to gain was always required or added later, and, if the latter, when. This meant that the owner did not consent, although Justinian broadened this in at least one case. The law of furtum protected a variety of property interests, but not land, things without an owner, or types of state or religious things. An owner could commit theft by taking his things back in certain circumstances, as could a borrower or similar user through misuse.

Occupatio or occupation is a method of original acquisition of property in Scots law. It derives from the Roman law concept of the same name. Occupatio allows an occupier of an object (res) with the intention to own the property to become the owner. As most property in Scotland is owned, and with the caduciary right that all ownerless property falls to the Crown, its application is uncommon. Nevertheless, it remains a valid method of acquiring ownership in Scots law.

Accession is a method of original acquisition of property under Scots property law. It operates to allow property to merge with another object, either moveable or heritable. Accession derives from the Roman-law concept of the same name. Other jurisdictions employ similar rules. The leading case in this area is said to be Brand's Trustees v Brand's Trustees (1876) 3 R (HL) 16.

Possession in Scots law occurs when an individual physically holds property with the intent to use it. Possession is traditionally viewed as a state of fact, rather than real right and is not the same concept as ownership in Scots law. It is now said that certain possessors may additionally have the separate real right of ius possidendi. Like much of Scots property law, the principles of the law of possession mainly derive from Roman law.

References

↑ Nicholas, Barry. (1962). An introduction to Roman law. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 132. ISBN 0-19-876063-9. OCLC 877760.
↑ Nicholas, Barry. (1962). An introduction to Roman law. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 132. ISBN 0-19-876063-9. OCLC 877760.
↑ Nicholas, Barry. (1962). An introduction to Roman law. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 133. ISBN 0-19-876063-9. OCLC 877760.

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Smith, William, ed. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities . London: John Murray.{{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Nicholas, Barry. (1962). An introduction to Roman law. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 132. ISBN 0-19-876063-9. OCLC 877760.

[2] Nicholas, Barry. (1962). An introduction to Roman law. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 132. ISBN 0-19-876063-9. OCLC 877760.

[3] Nicholas, Barry. (1962). An introduction to Roman law. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 133. ISBN 0-19-876063-9. OCLC 877760.

[1]

[2]

[3]