With the origin and development of human civilisation the rights have also been created in the society. Each person desires to live with peace and happiness, which is only possible when some fundamental rights are given to him/her. One not bear any undesirable interference in his/her rights and expects for punishment for that person who interferes. Thus it is clear that there is an important place of rights in human society. Rights here meaning legal rights.
Definitions of Rights
- According to Salmond “Right is as an interest, recognized and protected by a rule or justice”.
- In view of Dr Allen “Right means a guaranteed power by law to get an interest”.
It is clear that legal rights are a medium of protection of an interest or interest which are:
- Recognized by law and
- Protected.
Essential Elements of legal Rights
According to Salmond, every legal right has the following five elements or characteristics:
- The Person of Inherence
- The person of Incidence
- Contents of the Right
- Subject – matter of Right
- Title of the Right
Different Types of Right
Perfect and Imperfect Rights
A perfect right means a right which has a correlative duty that can be legally enforced Generally when law recognizes a right it prescribes a remedy also and when the right is violated it enforces it.
Rights in rem and rights in personam
- Classification of right in rem and right in personam is from Roman law.
- Right in rem is also called as Real right and right in personam as personal right.
- A right in rem is available against the whole world but a right in personam is available against a particular individual only (such as contract rights).
- The distinction between real and personal right is well illustrated by an example. A person’s right to the peaceable occupation and use of his land is a right in rem because all the world is under a duty towards him not to interfere with it. But if a person grants a lease of the land to a tenant, his right to receive rent from the tenant is a right in personam, for it is available exclusively against the tenant and no one else.
Proprietary and personal Rights
The proprietary right is vested in estate of a person and it is related to property assets and estate of the person Whereas the personal right of a person is related to his reputation status and personality etc. Personal right is not transferable and extinguished with the death of a person.
Rights in re-propria and rights in re aliena
Right over one s own property is called Right in re propria whereas right over the property of someone else is called Right in re aliena For example a person has right in re propria on his own land The rights in re aliena arise when a person s rights in his property becomes subject to another person s right in the some property such as the right of way over the land of another Right in re aliena are called encumbrances also.
Positive and Negative Right
A positive right is that tight which has a correlative positive duty. In case of positive right the person having the right can compel the person upon whom the correlative duty is imposed to imposed to do some positive act.. Whereas in case of negative right others are restrained from doing sometime Thus negative right has a correlative negative duty or in other words the right of ownership is a negative right for it imposes on others a negative duty of non interference with one’s right ownership.
Public & Private Rights
A right vested in the state is called a public right The state enforces such right as a representative of the subjects in public interest.
Vested & Contingent Rights
A vested right accrues when all the facts have occurred which must by law occur in order that a person in question would have the right. In case of contingent right only some of the events necessary to vest the right in the contingent owner have happened A vested right creates an immediate interest. It is transferable and heritable A contingent right does not create an immediate interest and it can be defeated when the required facts have not occurred.
Legal and Equitable Rights
Legal rights means such rights were recognized and enforced by the common law courts of England Whereas equitable rights means such rights which were recognized and enforced by the chancery courts. Equitable Rights are from the English law system. No difference has been between. legal and equitable rights in India.
