''Ratione soli'' or is a

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

phrase meaning "according to the soil" or "by reason of the ownership of the soil." In

property law Property law is the area of law that governs the various forms of ownership in real property (land) and personal property. Property refers to legally protected claims to resources, such as land and personal property, including intellectual prope ...

, it is a justification for assigning property rights to landowners over resources found on their own land.W.M. Rockel
''Game — Hunting Rights — Poaching''
57 425, 426 (1908). Traditionally, the doctrine of ''ratione soli'' provides landowners "constructive possession of natural resources on, over, and under the surface: cujus est solum, ejus est usque ad coelum ad infernos."

Origins

In ancient

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 ...

, landowners could only take legal possession of animals by capturing and maintaining physical control over them. English

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

originally restricted the right to hunt animals to those who had permission from

the Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

, but later laws allowed landowners to hunt animals that entered upon their land through the principle of ''ratione soli''. Over time, this developed into a system of laws where the right to hunt was restricted to

nobles Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...

and the landowning elite.

Modern usage

The doctrine of ''ratione soli'' has survived in many jurisdictions to this day. Likewise, many jurisdictions still recognize the correlative ''ad coelum'' doctrine.

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, for example, "views groundwater as chattel connected to the land, and allows the landowner ownership rights based on the ''ad coelum'' principle." However, some commentators note that some American jurisdictions have rejected the application of ''ratione soli'' to the ownership of wild animals because "it smacks of the hunting rights of the English landowning families who used it to make meatless meals for and poachers out of England's yeoman." For example, the Colorado Supreme Court stated in 1981 that "a landowner's property ''ratione soli'' is subject to 'lawful regulation.'"''Collopy v. Wildlife Comm'n, Dept. of Natural Res.'', 625 P.2d 994, 999 (Colo. 1981) (italics added).

References

{{reflist, 30em Common law Property law Latin words and phrases

Origins

Modern usage

See also

References