Property law is the law that in the common law legal system governs the various forms of ownership in real property (land as distinct from personal or moveable possessions) and in personal property. In the civil law system the division is called movable and immovable property. Movable, roughly corresponding to personal property and immovable to real estate or real property and the associated rights and obligations thereon.

The concept, idea or philosophy of property underlies all property law. In some jurisdictions, historically all property was owned by the monarch and it devolved through feudal land tenure or other feudal systems of loyalty and fealty to the monarch.

The French Revolution introduced the idea of the absolute ownership of property, it is such ownership that was introduced into the civil law by the Code Napoleon. This is in contradistinction with the ideas of property in common law that remained tied to their feudal past.

See also: Personal property, Property, Exclusive right, Usucaption, Usufruct

Further reading

• Land Law, Gray & Gray (ISBN 0 406 96377 0) - An accessible textbook on English property law.