Right to property

"Property rights" redirects here. For the concept in economics, see Property rights (economics).
Rights
Theoretical distinctions
Human rights
Rights by beneficiary
Other groups of rights

The right to property, or the right to own property (cf. ownership), is often[how often?] classified as a human right for natural persons regarding their possessions. A general recognition of a right to private property is found[citation needed] more rarely and is typically heavily constrained insofar as property is owned by legal persons (i.e. corporations) and where it is used for production rather than consumption.[1][need quotation to verify] The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution is credited as a significant precedent for the legal protection of individual property rights.

A right to property is specified in Article 17 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights,[2] but it is not recognised in the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights or in the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.[3] The 1950 European Convention on Human Rights acknowledges a right for a natural or legal person to "peaceful enjoyment of his possessions", subject to the "general interest or to secure the payment of taxes."[4]

  1. ^ See generally Berle, Adolph A. (1965). "Property, Production and Revolution". Columbia Law Review. 65 (1): 1–20. doi:10.2307/1120512. JSTOR 1120512.
  2. ^ "Universal Declaration of Human Rights". un.org. Article 17. 1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
  3. ^ Doebbler, Curtis F. J. (2006). Introduction to International Human Rights Law. CD Publishing. pp. 141–142. ISBN 978-0-9743570-2-7.
  4. ^ European Convention on Human Rights, protocol 1, article 1