Law

=== Property law ===
{{main|Property law}}
[[File:South Sea Bubble.jpg|thumb|A painting of the [[South Sea Bubble]], one of the world's first ever speculations and crashes, led to strict regulation on share trading.{{sfn|Harris|1994|pp=610–627}}]]

[[Property]] law governs ownership and possession. [[Real property]], sometimes called 'real estate', refers to ownership of land and things attached to it.<ref>e.g. ''[[Hunter v Canary Wharf Ltd]]'' [1997] [https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199697/ldjudgmt/jd970424/hunter01.htm 2 All ER 426] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170922164352/https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199697/ldjudgmt/jd970424/hunter01.htm |date=22 September 2017 }}</ref> [[Personal property]], refers to everything else; movable objects, such as computers, cars, jewelry or intangible rights, such as [[Share (finance)|stocks and shares]]. A right ''[[in rem]]'' is a right to a specific piece of property, contrasting to a right ''[[in personam]]'' which allows compensation for a loss, but not a particular thing back. Land law forms the basis for most kinds of property law, and is the most complex. It concerns [[Mortgage law|mortgages]], [[Leasehold estate|rental agreements]], [[license|licences]], [[Covenant (law)|covenants]], [[easement]]s and the statutory systems for land registration. Regulations on the use of personal property fall under intellectual property, [[company (law)|company law]], [[Trust law|trusts]] and [[commercial law]]. An example of a basic case of most property law is ''[[Armory v Delamirie]]'' [1722].<ref>''[[Armory v Delamirie]]'' (1722) 93 ER 664, 1 Strange 505</ref> A [[chimney sweep]]'s boy found a jewel encrusted with precious stones. He took it to a goldsmith to have it valued. The goldsmith's apprentice looked at it, sneakily removed the stones, told the boy it was worth three [[Halfpenny (British coin)|halfpence]] and that he would buy it. The boy said he would prefer the jewel back, so the apprentice gave it to him, but without the stones. The boy sued the goldsmith for his apprentice's attempt to cheat him. [[Lord Chief Justice Pratt]] ruled that even though the boy could not be said to own the jewel, he should be considered the rightful keeper ("finders keepers") until the original owner is found. In fact the apprentice and the boy both had a right of ''[[Possession (law)|possession]]'' in the jewel (a technical concept, meaning evidence that something ''could'' belong to someone), but the boy's possessory interest was considered better, because it could be shown to be first in time. Possession may be nine-tenths of the law, but not all.

This case is used to support the view of property in common law jurisdictions, that the person who can show the best claim to a piece of property, against any contesting party, is the owner.{{sfn|Matthews|1995|pp=251–274}} By contrast, the classic civil law approach to property, propounded by [[Friedrich Carl von Savigny]], is that it is a right good against the world. Obligations, like contracts and torts, are conceptualised as rights good between individuals.{{sfn|Savigny|1803|p=25}} The idea of property raises many further philosophical and political issues. Locke argued that our "lives, liberties and estates" are our property because we own our bodies and [[Labour theory of property|mix our labour]] with our surroundings.{{sfn|Locke|1689|loc=Section 123}}