Alluvion (Roman law)

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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 (i.e., merges with) a piece of land, the principal (operating a subtype of the Roman mode of acquisition by accession) and thus accedes to the ownership of the principal land over time. [1]

It continues to have relevance in the modern age from adopting Roman property law by modern legal systems, primarily civil law jurisdictions. Scots law is a notable example of the usage of alluvion within the law of accession (accesio). Public international law also recognises the acquisition of sovereignty of virgin territory by operation of nature, such as sediment deposits, again following the Roman law principles of alluvion.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Floodplain</span> Land adjacent to a river which is flooded during periods of high discharge

A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high discharge. The soils usually consist of clays, silts, sands, and gravels deposited during floods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alluvium</span> Loose soil or sediment that is eroded and redeposited in a non-marine setting

Alluvium is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluvium is also sometimes called alluvial deposit. Alluvium is typically geologically young and is not consolidated into solid rock. Sediments deposited underwater, in seas, estuaries, lakes, or ponds, are not described as alluvium.

In law, conveyancing is the transfer of legal title of real property from one person to another, or the granting of an encumbrance such as a mortgage or a lien. A typical conveyancing transaction has two major phases: the exchange of contracts and completion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alluvial fan</span> Fan-shaped deposit of sediment

An alluvial fan is an accumulation of sediments that fans outwards from a concentrated source of sediments, such as a narrow canyon emerging from an escarpment. They are characteristic of mountainous terrain in arid to semiarid climates, but are also found in more humid environments subject to intense rainfall and in areas of modern glaciation. They range in area from less than 1 square kilometer (0.4 sq mi) to almost 20,000 square kilometers (7,700 sq mi).

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fluvial processes</span> Processes associated with rivers and streams

In geography and geology, fluvial processes are associated with rivers and streams and the deposits and landforms created by them. When the stream or rivers are associated with glaciers, ice sheets, or ice caps, the term glaciofluvial or fluvioglacial is used.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Placer mining</span> Technique of mining stream bed deposits for minerals

Placer mining is the mining of stream bed (alluvial) deposits for minerals. This may be done by open-pit or by various surface excavating equipment or tunneling equipment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hydraulic mining</span> Mining technique using high-pressure water jets to carve away minerals

Hydraulic mining is a form of mining that uses high-pressure jets of water to dislodge rock material or move sediment. In the placer mining of gold or tin, the resulting water-sediment slurry is directed through sluice boxes to remove the gold. It is also used in mining kaolin and coal.

Accession has different definitions depending upon its application.

<i>Accessio</i> (Roman law)

Accessio is a concept from Roman property law for acquiring ownership of property which is merged, or acceded to, another piece of property. 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Occupatio</span>

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

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scots property law</span>

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.

A number of methods of acquisition of sovereignty are or have been recognised by international law as lawful methods by which a state may acquire sovereignty over territory. International law adopts much of Roman property law in regards to acquisition of sovereignty due to the underlying European civil law at the time of early discovery voyages such as Christopher Columbus. The basis of acquisition of states ownership of vacant territory therefore continues to apply,.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alluvial river</span> Type of river

An alluvial river is one in which the bed and banks are made up of mobile sediment and/or soil. Alluvial rivers are self-formed, meaning that their channels are shaped by the magnitude and frequency of the floods that they experience, and the ability of these floods to erode, deposit, and transport sediment. For this reason, alluvial rivers can assume a number of forms based on the properties of their banks; the flows they experience; the local riparian ecology; and the amount, size, and type of sediment that they carry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scots law</span> Legal system of Scotland

Scots law is the legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different historical sources. Together with English law and Northern Ireland law, it is one of the three legal systems of the United Kingdom.

<i>Calvins Case</i> 1608 English legal decision

Calvin's Case (1608), 77 ER 377, (1608) Co Rep 1a, also known as the Case of the Postnati, was a 1608 English legal decision establishing that a child born in Scotland, after the Union of the Crowns under King James VI and I in 1603, was considered under the common law to be an English subject and entitled to the benefits of English law. Calvin's Case was eventually adopted by courts in the United States, and the case played an important role in shaping the American rule of birthright citizenship via jus soli.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bajada (geography)</span>

A bajada consists of a series of coalescing alluvial fans along a mountain front. These fan-shaped deposits form by the deposition of sediment within a stream onto flat land at the base of a mountain. The usage of the term in landscape description or geomorphology derives from the Spanish word bajada, generally having the sense of "descent" or "inclination".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Accession (Scots law)</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Possession (Scots law)</span> Legal concept relating to holding property in Scots law

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

  1. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Alluvion"  . Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 710.