Legal Mechanisms: Acquisition and Extinction of Individual Rights

Acquisition and Extinction of Individual Rights

Acquisition of Individual Rights

The acquisition of individual rights can be categorized into two main types: original and derivative.

Original Acquisition (Origins)

A right is acquired independently of any previous holder.

• Rights of Personality: Acquired simply by being born.
• Finding Unowned Property: Finding something that is not abandoned (res nullius) or unowned.
• Acquisitive Prescription (Usucaption): Through public, peaceful, continuous, and uninterrupted possession, held as an owner, for a legally defined period, one can become the owner of something that previously belonged to another person.

Derivative Acquisition

The right is acquired from a previous holder (transferor).

Example: Purchase, bequest, etc.

This derivative acquisition can be classified as follows:

Based on Creation or Transfer

• Constitutive: The acquisition creates a right that did not exist before.
• Translative: The transmission of an existing right from one holder to another person.

Based on Timing and Scope

• Inter Vivos: Acquisition between living persons.
• Mortis Causa: Acquisition due to inheritance or will.
• Title Universal: Acquiring every property and obligation of a person (e.g., a successor).
• Title Particular: Acquiring specific goods, not the entirety of the estate.

Subjective Amendment of Rights

A modification of subjective rights can occur regarding the person (subject) or the thing (object).

Change in the Person (Personal Subrogation)

This signifies a change of ownership or a change in the subject of rights and obligations.

Example: A person who purchases a mortgaged property and is subrogated into the position of the debtor, thereby becoming part of the contract the seller had signed.

Change in the Thing (Real Subrogation)

This involves a change in the object (the thing) to which the rights and obligations pertain.

Extinction of Individual Rights

Extinction occurs when subjective rights cease to exist entirely.

Causes of Extinction

• Fulfillment of the contract (e.g., repayment of a loan).
• Termination of the set term or condition (e.g., the duration of a usufruct expires).
• Disappearance or total loss of the thing (e.g., the owner's animal dies).

Note: Sometimes there is a loss of a right but not complete extinction. Example: Expropriation (the property law still exists but is transferred, not completely extinguished).

Waiver of Rights

Waiver is another mechanism leading to the extinction of a right. It is a unilateral declaration by the right holder and does not require the consent of another person.

Validity of Waiver (Article 6.2 of the Civil Code)

The waiver is valid provided it does not harm the public interest, public order, or detrimentally affect third parties. The waiver is a unilateral act of declaration by the right holder and does not need the consent of another person.