Introduction
In this and the following chapter, we are concerned with how a person acquired ownership of property. This could happen in various ways. We make a distinction here between two broad situations: derivative acquisition, which is the focus of this chapter; and original acquisition, which is considered in Chapter 12.
Derivative acquisition is the more common situation, in which ownership is acquired from a previous owner. Original acquisition, by contrast, is the umbrella term for those limited situations in which the law allows a person to acquire ownership without getting it from a previous owner.The derivative/original distinction is the main one used here, as it is most appropriate to the purposes of this book. After all, it is a standard way of clasÂsifying modes of acquisition of ownership that is used in modern law. It is not, however, the only one. The Romans also distinguished between civil law modes of acquisition, on the one hand, and natural law modes, on the other. The natuÂral law modes were part of the ius gentium (‘law of nations'), and were thought of as being universal principles, open to all. Civil law modes of acquisition, by contrast, were only open to those with Roman citizenship rights.[1022] As we shall see below, the civil law modes tended to involve a certain degree of formality.
The appropriate method for acquiring ownership thus depended on various factors. A further factor was that property itself was classified in various ways, and this affected the question of the appropriate mode of acquisition. The first matter to consider, therefore, is the classification of property.
B.