What is usufruct? Beginning with the Romans, people shared the rights that they had on their own and others' things. By this it was meant that a thing belongs to one person in full, that is, on the right of ownership, but at the same time another person (or several) may be present who have a number of rights associated with this thing. One of such legal institutions is usufruct in Roman law, which will be briefly described in the article. And also the issue of property rights to which it relates and their types will be raised.
Obligations and property rights
To understand the concept of "usufruct", about the division of rights into obligations and property in Roman law, briefly say the following.
Property law is an absolute right, which is a direct connection between a person and a thing. This means that the thing is the property of a particular person. This fact must be recognized by all members of the company, and in case of violation of this right, it will be protected from everyone. Whatever hands the thing falls into, it belongs to the owner.
Obligation law, in contrast to property law, is relative. It reflects the connection between a thing and a person indirectly, through another person. That is, the right can be violated only by one debtor, therefore protection will be needed only in relation to this particular person.
As an example of a contract in Roman law, illustrating the law of obligations, we can give a contract of sale. Under this agreement, only the right to claim the thing passes, but not the right to the thing itself. In order to receive it, it is necessary to deliver the item on the waybill or acceptance certificate. If, for example, an apartment is sold and ownership is registered for it, then this will be absolute property right.
Types of property rights
To thoroughly understand that this is usufruct in Roman law, you need to know that property rights, in turn, are divided into types.
The first type is the right of ownership, which gives fundamental complete power over a thing. In accordance with it, the owner can own, use and dispose of the thing at his discretion - sell, lease, mortgage. However, there is a reservation that this is a theoretical right, since situations often arise in life in which burdens may be imposed.
In Roman law, contracts signed at the behest of the owner, or legal acts issued by the state to optimize the economic use of certain types of things, dictate certain restrictions.
The second type is the rights that arise as a result of the above legal facts. They are called “property limited rights” and are characterized by the fact that the thing belongs to one person as the owner, but the other person also has a direct property right to it, the content of which has a restriction.
Types of limited property rights
Continuing to study the question that this is usufruct in Roman law, one should understand the types of rights that apply to other people's things. There are several of them. Among them are the following:
- Easements are personal and property rights, more about which will be discussed below.
- Collateral - finding a thing with a creditor whose purpose is to ensure fulfillment of obligations.
- Emphyteusis - the right to long-term use of foreign land, which is inherited and alienated.
- Superficius - is an analogy of emphyteusis, concerning not using land, but leasing land for construction and using the building in the future.
What is easement
Now we have come close to the question of whether it is usufruct. It is a kind of easement, so it would be logical to understand this concept in more detail. The emergence of easements is associated with the establishment of private ownership of land plots. Moreover, there were areas on which there was no source of water or access to it or to the road.
Then there was an urgent need to secure the owners of such "inferior" territories the right to use water from sources located on neighboring lands, or to pass through them to a common road. It was called the “easement”.
Personal and property easements
Easements are divided into two groups: personal and material.
Personal provide the right to use someone else's thing for a particular person. From there their name came. Usufruct is just a typical example of a personal easement, which is a lifetime right. If the person to whom it applies is temporarily absent, then the right to use the thing also terminates for this period.
A property easement differs from a personal easement in that under it, the right to use does not extend to a specific person, but to anyone to whom the thing will belong, for example, the “flawed” section mentioned above. Anyone who finds themselves in the position of the owner of this site can use a source of water or a passage to the road belonging to a neighbor. If the owner changes, then the property easement moves on to the next.
Usufruct
Let us consider in more detail such a kind of personal easement as usufruct, and quasi-usufruct and uzus close to it.
Usufruct has the opportunity to fully use someone else's thing and the fruits that it gives, but with the condition that its very essence be preserved intact. The object of usufruct can be any thing - movable and immovable. For example, a garden, kitchen garden, field, pond, forest. The right to use it is established both for life and for a certain period of time, usually long.
The user is called "usufructuary" and has the right to use the thing and the result to be recovered. He becomes the owner of the fruits from the moment he collects them. And also he can transfer the object of usufruct to other persons for use by concluding a lease agreement with them. But even in such a situation, the usufructuary bears full responsibility to the owner of the thing for its integrity, purpose and procedure for using it.
He also has to fulfill obligations to reimburse the costs of servicing things, for example, pay taxes. And also take care of it and, in case of damage, compensate the owner for the damage caused. This must be done if the usufructuary is guilty of damage, or has exceeded his authority as a user.
The right of usufruct, by virtue of its personal nature, cannot be alienated or inherited. The death of usufructaria entails its cessation, and the thing returns to the owner. In this case, the owner has the right to sell the thing, its pledge, encumbrance with another easement, but only on condition that the rights of the usufructuary are not infringed. One of the differences between usufruct is its divisibility between several individuals.
Quasi fruit
One of the varieties of usufruct in Roman law is quasi-usufruct. Its object could be only property as a whole, and not a separate part of it. It could also apply to consumed things, for example, to the harvest of vegetables, fruits, and grain. In this situation, the user moved into the category of owner and had to provide obligations to repay the value of the property as a pledge.
At the end of the period of use of the subject of usufruct, he had to make a pre-negotiated cost, expressed in money. In some cases, compensation was allowed by returning not money, but homogeneous items in an amount equivalent to that obtained under a quasi-fruit insurance agreement.
Uzus
Uzus, unlike usufruct, allowed use exclusively of the thing itself without the right to the fruits received from it. Basically, it was designed to use it throughout life. At the same time, the relatives of the user called usaria could use the thing along with it, for example, live on the estate.
But transferring their right to unauthorized persons, as well as sharing it with them, was strictly prohibited. Indivisibility is one of the main properties of the ostrich. Regarding the fruits, there was a rule that they can be used to a limited extent, namely, within the personal needs of the usuaria and members of its family.
The costs of maintaining the thing were borne by the user, paying off tax obligations, but their size was lower than that of the usufructuary. All other duties were similar. Despite the fact that it was impossible to divide the Uzus, sharing was allowed.