EASEMENTS AND USUFRUCTS IN ROMAN LAW

Abstract

In Roman private law, in addition to absolute (property rights) and limited rights (property rights), the right to other people’s things was also considered relatively separately. In this case, we mean things with a special title, which belonged to both their owners and persons who did not have such broad powers. In connection with this content, the rights to other people’s things were covered: easements, emphyteusis, superficies, usufruct. In ancient Rome, the emergence and development of easements was due to the formation and design of the institution of private property, especially real estate. There were, for example, land plots that did not have access to water for irrigation of crops collected from the river, public wells. There were also plots of land that did not have access to pasture in the field. Therefore, the owner of the site could use water from a public well located on the neighbor’s site; the owner of the plot, which had no access to the river, could lose the cattle, using the road that passed through the neighbor’s land plot, etc. Thus de facto arose and then de jure easements were issued, which meant the right to use someone else’s thing or to create certain benefits in the use of property or to provide benefits to certain persons. The term “servitus” (from the Latin “servire” – to serve) meant the service of real estate not only to their owners, but also the use of such objects for economic needs for the benefit of owners of neighboring real estate. Usufruct (Latin “ususfructus”; from “usus” – use + “fructus” – income) – the right to use someone else’s property with the right to appropriate income from it, but with the condition of preserving its integrity, value and economic purpose. The subject of usufruct could be things that can be used without obvious wear and tear, such as land, draft animals. Money could not be the subject of usufruct. At the beginning of the usufruct, the usufructuary made a description of the property and assured the guarantor that he would use the property as a bona fide owner. The sale of the thing by the owner did not have a significant impact on the rights of the usufructuary. Easements and usufructs in Roman classical law were quite common and were effective legal instruments of property law. They represented the various economic and personal interests of the subjects of Roman law.