Published: 2022-08-20

Fowling on another's land in the light of imperial rescripts: ‘Non habet rationem vos in alienis locis invitis dominis aucupari…

Zuzanna Benincasa
Zeszyty Prawnicze
Section: Artykuły
https://doi.org/10.21697/zp.2022.22.2.04

Abstract

The article is devoted to the relationship between the freedom of hunting wild animals, birds and fish and an absolute nature of the property right in the context of the rescript of Antoninus Pius. As referred by Callistratus in D. 8,3,16 the emperor stated that it was not compliant with the ratio to catch birds on someone else's land against the will of the owner of that land. From the comparison of Callistratus's text with the other text from Ulpian's commentary to the edict (D. 47,10,13,7), in which the possibility of bringing an actio iniuriarum against a person preventing fishing in the sea is mentioned and the ius prohibendi (the right of the owner of the land to prohibit third parties from entering his property) discussed, it can be concluded that the rescript of Antoninus Pius might consider unjustified aucupes' request to allow them to enter someone's property in order to catch wild birds. Thus, despite the impossibility to prevent the practice of aucupium (flying birds constituted res nullius and could be captured and appropriated by anyone), the owner of the land executing his ius prohibendi, could prevent bird hunters from entering his property. Nevertheless, in regard to the fishermen's right to catch fish near the seashore the situation was different due to the special legal status of litora maris considered res omnium communes.

Keywords:

fowling; aucupio; freedom to hunt; ius prohibendi; aucupes (fowler); appropriation of another’s property.

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Citation rules

Benincasa, Z. (2022). Fowling on another’s land in the light of imperial rescripts: ‘Non habet rationem vos in alienis locis invitis dominis aucupari…. Zeszyty Prawnicze, 22(2), 43–65. https://doi.org/10.21697/zp.2022.22.2.04

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