Chapter VII.pptVIP

Property Law of USA What is Property? In common usage, the term property refers to a piece of land or an object. Property includes the rights of any person to possess, use, enjoy, and dispose of a thing or object of value. Property一般译为财产，通常的理解是指某一具体的物。财产权包括任何人对于有价值的东西或者物体的占有、使用、收益、处分的权利。 Classification of property 财产可以分为不动产（Real property）和动产（Personal property），（大陆法系国家也将财产分为动产(movable property)和不动产(immovable property)，起源于罗马法，主要依据物的特性来划分） 英美法国家的这种划分来源于普通法早期的诉讼程序，在此诉讼程序中，有两种诉讼，一为对物诉讼（actio in rem－Real action）,意即这种诉讼要求收回实体的、特定的物；处理土地为他人不当占有的案子，这时土地可以返回给合法的所有人。另一种为对人诉讼（actio in personam－Personal action）,意即这种诉讼要求特定人归还原物或赔偿损失；处理土地以外的的财产纠纷，这时所有人通常只能获得金钱赔偿。从范围来看，属于不动产的主要是土地，但不包括租借地；属于动产的几乎包括所有可移动的物品和某些无形的权利，以及不可移动的租借地。 Property may be classified as real or personal, tangible or intangible, and public or private, but these classifications are not mutually exclusive. Real property includes land and property that is permanently attached to the land, such as trees or buildings attached to land. Personal property (also called chattel) consists of everything that is not real property. Tangible property includes all real property, and physically defined personal property such as buildings, goods, animals, minerals, and the like. Intangible property represents rights that cannot be reduced to physical form. Commercial paper, stock certificates of deposit, bonds, copyrights and such are examples of intangible property. Public property is property that is owned by the government, such as a national forest. Private property is all property not owned by the government. 关于动产，英文有Chattels和Personal property两种不同的表述，现在，人们一改早期普遍使用的Chattels，而广泛地采用Personal property。动产又可以分为两类：有形动产（Tangible personal property）和无形动产( Intangible personal property),前者指能够看到、摸得到的有体财产，可直接占有，而后者则指看不到、摸不到的无体财产，指能够带来财产利益的法定权利，如股份、银行账号、知识产权、人寿保险等。 Note: According to Blacks Law Dictionary, property is defined as: That which is peculiar or proper to any person; that which belongs exclusively to one. An aggregate of rights，w