Alluvion, is a
Roman law
Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (), to the (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I.
Roman law also den ...
method of acquisition of heritable property (land). The typical cause is sediment (
alluvium
Alluvium (, ) is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluvium is also sometimes called alluvial deposit. Alluvium is ...
) deposited by a river. This sediment, legally termed ''the accessory, accreses'' (i.e., merges with) a piece of land, the principal (operating a subtype of the Roman mode of acquisition by
accession) and thus accedes to the ownership of the principal land over time.
It continues to have relevance in the
modern age
The modern era or the modern period is considered the current historical period of human history. It was originally applied to the history of Europe and Western history for events that came after the Middle Ages, often from around the year 1500 ...
from adopting Roman property law by modern legal systems, primarily
civil law jurisdictions.
Scots law
Scots law () is the List of country legal systems, legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing Civil law (legal system), civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different histori ...
is a notable example of the usage of alluvion within the law of
accession (accesio).
Public international law
International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...
also recognises the
acquisition of sovereignty of virgin territory by operation of nature, such as sediment deposits, again following the Roman law principles of alluvion.
See also
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Alluvial fan
An alluvial fan is an accumulation of sediments that fans outwards from a concentrated source of sediments, such as a narrow canyon emerging from an escarpment. They are characteristic of mountainous terrain in arid to Semi-arid climate, semiar ...
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Alluvial plain
An alluvial plain is a plain (an essentially flat landform) created by the deposition of sediment over a long period by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which alluvial soil forms. A ''floodplain'' is part of the process, bei ...
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Accession (Scots law)
References
{{law-term-stub
Roman law
Scots property law
International law