ownership

Ownership is the fullest right over property. Austin described it as a right indefinite in point of user, unrestricted in point of disposition and unlimited in duration. Salmond defined it as the relation between a person and a right vested in him, so that what is owned is a right, not the physical thing.

Its incidents include the right to possess, use, enjoy, exclude others, alienate and destroy, subject to limits imposed by law. Ownership differs from possession: an owner may be out of possession (a landlord), and a possessor may not be owner (a thief or a tenant). Kinds include corporeal and incorporeal, sole and co-ownership, vested and contingent, and legal and equitable ownership.

Example

A landlord retains ownership of the house though the tenant has possession under the lease.

See also

possession · title · animus domini · right

Read more in the study notes

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• The central bank and the Reserve Bank of India: evolution, organisation and functions (Banking Law)
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