First Principles of Business Law

1. Foundational concepts

1.1. The importance of property law

It is commonly accepted, in most societies, that private persons can acquire legally protected rights in 'things'.  'Thing' is a non-specific word used to referg to some entity, object, creature or area of land. In Australian law, 'things' are more generally referred to as 'property', and so we speak of 'property law' rather than 'the law of things'. Property law is concerned with the nature of legal rights in 'things', the extent to which they can be acquired, and the ways in which they are created and protected.

It is difficult to overstate the social and commercial importance of property law. The existence of legally protected rights in property minimises disputes that would otherwise arise, and enables the undertaking of all kinds of economically useful activities that can benefit both individuals and society as a whole.

Property law is a large and complex topic. There are, for instance, different kinds of property to be distinguished, different rights that can exist over property, and different modes of acquiring, exercising and protecting those rights, depending on the exact circumstances. By working through the examples in this module you will quickly learn the basic concepts, terminology and principles of property law.