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External WebsitesA. Robert Noll Professor Law, Cornell Law School, Ithaca, New York. Author of Commodity & Propriety: Competing Visions of Property in American Legal Thought, 1776-1970 and The Global Debate.
Gregory Alexander , Charles DonahueProfessor of Law, Harvard University. Coauthor of Property: An Introduction to the Concept and the Institution.
Charles Donahue • All Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaEncyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
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property law, principles, policies, and rules by which disputes over property are to be resolved and by which property transactions may be structured. What distinguishes property law from other kinds of law is that property law deals with the relationships between and among members of a society with respect to “ things.” The things may be tangible, such as land or a factory or a diamond ring, or they may be intangible, such as stocks and bonds or a bank account. Property law, then, deals with the allocation, use, and transfer of wealth and the objects of wealth. As such, it reflects the economy of the society in which it is found. Since it deals with the control and transfer of wealth between spouses and across generations, property law also reflects the family structure of the society in which it is found. Finally, because it deals with such fundamental issues as the economy and the structure of the family, property law also reflects the politics of the society in which it is found.
This article outlines the major systems of property law that have existed historically and that exist today. The principal focus is on the two major Western systems of law that have become dominant in the industrialized world: the Anglo-American system, derived from the English common law, and the civil law system, which was developed on the European continent on the basis of Roman law. The article will also compare Anglo-American property law with its counterpart in various civil law (i.e., law based on Roman law rather than English common law) countries, including Germany and modern China. Special attention will be given to the rules of property law in countries that, because of their socialist political system, did not recognize private ownership of property. Russia and Romania will be used as the main examples.
Property is frequently defined as the rights of a person with respect to a thing. The difficulties with this definition have long plagued legal theorists.
The same problem of definition occurs in non-Western societies as well. In Russia, for example, the word property (sobstvennost) can have various meanings. In some cases it is used as the equivalent of things, belongings, or real estate. It is also used to refer to the right of ownership. In modern-day Russia, the term property is most accurately understood as the economic relations between the owner of a thing and all other persons with respect to that thing.
Property law is best understood as the complex of jural relationships between and between persons with respect to things. It is the sum of rights and duties, privileges and no-rights, powers and liabilities, disabilities and immunities that exist with respect to things. This holds true for both Western and non-Western legal systems. What distinguishes property law from all other jural relationships, then, is that the jural relationships of property law deal with things.
For purposes of this article, all tangible things are included within the realm of property law, even if a specific legal system denies the classification “property” to certain kinds of tangible things. Many, but not all, legal systems that recognize a separate category of property law also include within that category some intangible things, such as stocks and bonds, but not other intangible things, such as claims for compensation for wrongs (i.e., a tort or delict). The definition of property law used here includes only those intangible things that the legal system under discussion classifies as property. For a discussion of property law relating to other forms of intangible assets, see intellectual property law.
