Fructus (Roman law)

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Fructus (Latin for "fruits") is a legal term used in Roman law to describe goods naturally created by other property. In the most traditional understanding, this encompasses literal fruit of various plants, but also goods taken from animals such as milk or wool. [1] There is some debate whether profits arising from other legal actions, such as loan interest, can be considered fructus – ancient jurisprudents usually strayed from such interpretations, but did argue to treat such profits in analogical ways. [2] [3]

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Right to fructus

In ancient Rome, right to collect fructus was considered an integral right of the owner. Ancient jurisprudents often commented on the right to fructus in various situations. It was generally agreed on that until separation from its core object, fructus remained a part of that object; upon disconnection, they became property of the owner under normal conditions. [4] There existed various exceptions to that general rule:

The exact moment in time in which the ownership of fructus is ascertained differs in certain circumstances. The core object's owner, good faith possessor or emphyteuta all take ownership of fructus in the moment they disconnect from the core object (separatio), while detentors and persons benefiting from ususfructus take ownership in the moment they collect the fructus (perceptio). This becomes important when considering, for example, questions of inheritance. [4] [8]

Ususfructus

Ususfructus is a type of Roman servitude wherein a person is granted the right to use another's property and to collect fructus from another's property. This was a very powerful servitude to give, as in most cases it left the owner only with bare ownership (nuda proprietas) of said property, therefore ususfructus was unable to be inherited or otherwise transferred to another person – it expired with the death of the user or at the time stipulated in the contract. Importantly, such users may not impact or destroy the substance of the property in the course of their use and collection – a stipulation, cautio usufructuaria, was created for the purpose of preventing such abuses. [9]

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.

In property law, title is an intangible construct representing a bundle of rights in (to) a piece of property in which a party may own either a legal interest or equitable interest. The rights in the bundle may be separated and held by different parties. It may also refer to a formal document, such as a deed, that serves as evidence of ownership. Conveyance of the document may be required in order to transfer ownership in the property to another person. Title is distinct from possession, a right that often accompanies ownership but is not necessarily sufficient to prove it. In many cases, possession and title may each be transferred independently of the other. For real property, land registration and recording provide public notice of ownership information.

Homestead principle Legal principle regarding unclaimed natural resources

The homestead principle is the principle by which one gains ownership of an unowned natural resource by performing an act of original appropriation. Appropriation could be enacted by putting an unowned resource to active use , joining it with previously acquired property or by marking it as owned.

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.

A profit, in the law of real property, is a nonpossessory interest in land similar to the better-known easement, which gives the holder the right to take natural resources such as petroleum, minerals, timber, and wild game from the land of another. Indeed, because of the necessity of allowing access to the land so that resources may be gathered, every profit contains an implied easement for the owner of the profit to enter the other party's land for the purpose of collecting the resources permitted by the profit.

In the common law, emblements are annual crops produced by cultivation legally belonging to the tenant with the implied right for its harvest, and are treated as the tenant's property.

A servitude is a qualified beneficial interest severed or fragmented from the ownership of an inferior property and attached to a superior property or to some person other than the owner. At civil law, ownership (dominium) is the only full real right whereas a servitude is a subordinate real right on par with wayleaves, real burdens, security interests, and reservations. There are two types: predial, attaching to property, and personal, attaching to a person.

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

Accessio is a concept from Ancient Roman property law that decided ownership of property which is merged, or acceded to, another piece of property. In general the owner of the principal thing, whichever it is, became the owner of the acceded thing also. Its usage continues in modern times in legal systems around the world employing Roman property law, primarily civilian legal systems.

<i>Ius</i>

Ius or Jus in ancient Rome was a right to which a citizen (civis) was entitled by virtue of his citizenship (civitas). The iura were specified by laws, so ius sometimes meant law. As one went to the law courts to sue for one's rights, ius also meant justice and the place where justice was sought.

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.

An easement is a nonpossessory right to use and/or enter onto the real property of another without possessing it. It is "best typified in the right of way which one landowner, A, may enjoy over the land of another, B". An easement is a property right and type of incorporeal property in itself at common law in most jurisdictions.

Scots property law

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.

South African property law

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.

Disposition (Scots law)

A disposition in Scots law is a formal deed transferring ownership of corporeal heritable property. It acts as the conveyancing stage as the second of three stages required in order to voluntarily transfer ownership of land in Scotland. The three stages are:

  1. The Contractual Stage
  2. The Conveyancing Stage
  3. The Registration Stage
Souvenir plot

Souvenir title or souvenir plots are a commonly sold online good or physical gift set whereby a seller will advertise ownership of a small plot of land in Scotland, advertising that the buyer will obtain the legal right of ownership in Scots law and/or the right to style themselves as a noble lord or lady upon purchase. However the purchase is of no legal effect and many commentators of the sales practice consider it to be a scam.

Accession (Scots law)

Accession or Accessio is method of original acquisition of property under Scots property law. It operates to allow property to merge with another object, either moveable or heritable (land). Accessio 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.

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

In Roman law, obligatio ex delicto is an obligation created as a result of a delict. While "delict" itself was never defined by Roman jurisprudents, delicts were generally composed of injurious or otherwise illicit actions, ranging from those covered by criminal law today to those usually settled in civil disputes in modern times. Obligationes ex delicto therefore can be characterized as a form of private punishment, but also as a form of loss compensation.

References

  1. ↑ Kolańczyk, Kazimierz (2007). Prawo rzymskie (5th ed.). Warszawa: Wolters Kluwer. p. 268. ISBN   978-83-7334-031-2.
  2. ↑ "The Digest or Pandects: Book 50 (Scott)". droitromain.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr. D 50, 16, 121: "The interest on money which we collect is not included in the term "[fructus]," because it is not derived from the property itself, but from another source, that is to say, from a new obligation."
  3. ↑ "The Digest or Pandects: Book 22 (Scott)". droitromain.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr. D 22, 1, 34: "Interest takes the place of [fructus], and therefore should not be separated from it [...]"
  4. 1 2 Kolańczyk, p. 308
  5. ↑ Justinian. "Institutes" (PDF). amesfoundation.law.harvard.edu. Retrieved 3 June 2021. - I. 2, 1, 35 - "If a man in good faith buys land from another who is not its owner, though he believed he was, or acquires it in good faith by gift or some other lawful title, natural reason directs that the fruits which he has gathered shall be his, in consideration of his care and cultivation [...]"
  6. ↑ Kolańczyk, p. 326
  7. ↑ Kolańczyk, p. 396
  8. ↑ Justinian. "Institutes". I. 2, 1, 36 - "A person who has a usufruct in land does not become owner of the fruits which grow thereon until he has himself gathered them; consequently fruits which, at the moment of his decease, though ripe, are yet ungathered, do not belong to his heir, but to the owner of the land."
  9. ↑ Kolańczyk, p. 321
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