In civil law jurisdictions, abuse of rights (also known as Prohibition of Chicane) is the exercise of a

legal right Some philosophers distinguish two types of rights, natural rights and legal rights. * Natural rights are those that are not dependent on the laws or customs of any particular culture or government, and so are ''universal'', ''fundamental'' and ...

only to cause annoyance, harm, or injury to another. The abuser is liable for the harm caused by their actions. Some examples of this are

abuse of power Abuse is the improper usage or treatment of a thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, crimes, or other t ...

, barratry, frivolous or

vexatious litigation Vexatious litigation is legal action which is brought solely to harass or subdue an adversary. It may take the form of a primary frivolous lawsuit or may be the repetitive, burdensome, and unwarranted filing of meritless motions in a matter which ...

, a

spite fence In property law, a spite fence is an overly tall fence or a row of trees, bushes, or hedges, constructed or planted between adjacent lots by a property owner (with no legitimate purpose), who is annoyed with or wishes to annoy a neighbor, or who ...

or house,

forum shopping Forum shopping is a colloquial term for the practice of litigants having their legal case heard in the court thought most likely to provide a favorable judgment. Some jurisdictions have, for example, become known as "plaintiff-friendly" and so ...

abuse of process An abuse of process is the unjustified or unreasonable use of legal proceedings or process to further a cause of action by an applicant or plaintiff in an action. It is a claim made by the respondent or defendant that the other party is misusing ...

malicious prosecution Malicious prosecution is a common law intentional tort. Like the tort of abuse of process, its elements include (1) intentionally (and maliciously) instituting and pursuing (or causing to be instituted or pursued) a legal action ( civil or crimin ...

tax avoidance Tax avoidance is the legal usage of the tax regime in a single territory to one's own advantage to reduce the amount of tax that is payable by means that are within the law. A tax shelter is one type of tax avoidance, and tax havens are jurisdi ...

(vs. anti-avoidance rules,

step transaction doctrine The step transaction doctrine is a judicial doctrine in the United States that combines a series of formally separate steps, resulting in tax treatment as a single integrated event. The doctrine is often used in combination with other doctrines, suc ...

economic substance Economic substance is a doctrine in the tax law of the United States under which a transaction must have both a substantial purpose aside from reduction of tax liability and an economic effect aside from the tax effect in order to qualify for any t ...

), etc. The principle is a creature of case law and was expanded from the neighborhood law doctrine of '' aemulatio vicini'' under the ''

jus commune ''Jus commune'' or ''ius commune'' is Latin for "common law" in certain jurisdictions. It is often used by civil law jurists to refer to those aspects of the civil law system's invariant legal principles, sometimes called "the law of the land" ...

''. This principle departs from the classical theory that “he who uses a right injures no one” (= ''neminem laedit qui suo iure utitur''), instead embracing the maxim “a right ends where abuse begins” (= ''le droit cesse où l'abus commence'').

Foundation

The abuse of rights principle is laid out in German law by the so-called ''Schikaneverbot'' ‘ban on vexatiousness’ ( BGBbr>§226
. It reads as follows: Article 2 of the ''Einleitung'' to the

Swiss Civil Code The Swiss Civil Code (SR/RS 210, german: Schweizerisches Zivilgesetzbuch (ZGB); french: Code civil suisse (CC); it, Codice civile svizzero (CC); rm, Cudesch civil svizzer) is a portion of the second part (SR/RS 2) of the internal Swiss law ("Pr ...

states: Articles 19, 20 and 21 of the

Civil Code of the Philippines The Civil Code of the Philippines is the product of the codification of private law in the Philippines. It is the general law that governs family and property relations in the Philippines. It was enacted in 1950, and remains in force to date w ...

state that: * Art. 19. “Every person must, in the exercise of his rights and in the performance of his duties, act with justice, give everyone his due and observe honesty and good faith.” * Art. 20. “Every person who, contrary to law, wilfully or negligently causes damage to another, shall indemnify the latter for the same.” * Art. 21. “Any person who wilfully causes loss or injury to another in manner that is contrary to morals, good customs or public policy shall compensate the latter for the damage.”

Conditions

At least one of four conditions is required to invoke the doctrine: *the predominant motive for exercising the right is to cause harm *no serious or legitimate interest exists for judicial protection *the exercise of the right is ''contra bonos mores'' or violates good faith or elementary fairness (equity) *the right is exercised for a purpose other than its intended legal purpose. The principle does not exist in

common law jurisdictions In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...

. In Scots law (which is mixed civil/common law jurisdiction), a much more limited doctrine known as ''aemulatio vicini'' serves the same purpose.

Foundation

Conditions

See also

References

Further reading