''Ratione soli'' or is a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

phrase meaning "according to the soil" or "by reason of the ownership of the soil." In property law, 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 legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the '' Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Ju ...

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

common law 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 omnipres ...

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

the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

, 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 ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteri ...

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 (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, 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 The Colorado Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Colorado. Located in Denver, the Court consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. Powers and duties Appellate jurisdiction Discretionary appeals The 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

Common law Property law {{Latin-legal-phrase-stub

Origins

Modern usage

See also

References