jus in re aliena
Meaning. A right held over property owned by someone else, such as an easement or mortgage.
Jus in re aliena (a right in another’s thing) is an encumbrance: a right in rem that one person holds over property owned by another, limiting the owner’s rights. Salmond classifies such rights into leases, servitudes (easements), securities (mortgages, pledges, liens) and the benefit of restrictive covenants. Its opposite is jus in re propria, the right of ownership in one’s own thing.
The dominant owner of a right of way, the mortgagee and the lessee each hold a jus in re aliena. The right binds the property and passes with it to transferees, which is what makes it a right in rem rather than a mere contractual right.
Example
A right of way over the neighbour’s land is a jus in re aliena that binds every later owner of that land.
In Indian law
- Section 4, Indian Easements Act, 1882 (definition of easement)