The Classification of Things
A Précis
ICommon & Non-Common Things
ADefinitions
1A common thing is one (i) that, thanks to its great abundance, exists in quantities more than sufficient to satisfy the needs of all persons who might desire to use or consume it (so that no one has a real incentive to try to appropriate or to exercise dominion over it)[1] and (ii) as to which the state has not asserted ownership.[2]
2A non-common thing is one (i) that, thanks to its scarcity, exists in quantities less than sufficient to satisfy the needs of all persons who might desire to use or consume it (so that persons have a real incentive to appropriate or to exercise dominion over it) or (ii) that, though not of such a nature, has nonetheless been declared to be the property of the state.
BIllustrations
1Common things: air, high seas, solar heat and light, wind[3]
2Non-common things: running waters, water bottoms, land, buildings, crops, equipment, furniture, shares of stock, servitudes
CNature of criterion of distinction: objective (based on physical characteristics)[4] and historical[5]
DSignificance:
1The classification of a thing as common or non-common determines whether it can be owned. If the thing is common, it cannot be owned; if it's non-common, it can be owned.[6]
2Whereas common things can be used by everyone conformably with the use for which nature has intended them,[7] non-common things may not be used freely by everyone, but are reserved for the use of a specific person or persons (e.g., the owner or the usufructuary).
ESubdivisions
1Of Non-Common Things: Public & Private Things
aDefinitions
1)Public things are things that are owned by the state or its political subdivisions in their capacity as public persons.[8]
2)Private things are things that are owned by (i) natural or private juridical persons or (ii) the state or its political subdivisions in their capacity as private persons.[9]
bIllustrations
1)Public things:
a)Of the state itself: running waters, waters and bottoms of natural navigable water bodies, territorial sea, seashore[10]
b)Of the state's political subdivisions: streets, public squares, parks, cemeteries, open spaces[11]
2)Private things: public offices, police & fire stations, publicly-owned markets, schoolhouses,[12] houses, automobiles, clothes, books
c)Significance
1)In general: The classification of a thing as public or private determines whether the thing can be owned by private persons (as opposed to governmental entities). If the thing is public, it cannot be owned by private persons (at least not so long as it remains public[13]); if it's private, then it can be owned by private persons.[14]
2)Particular applications:
a)Whereas private things are susceptible of acquisitive prescription, public things are not.[15]
b)Whereas private things are susceptible of possession, public things are not.[16]
2Of Public Things: Necessarily & Adventitiously Public Things
aDefinitions:
1)Necessarily Public Things: Necessarily public things are things that, according to constitutional or legislative provisions, are inalienable and necessarily owned by the state or its political subdivisions.[17]
2)Adventitiously Public Things: Adventitiously public things are things that, though alienable and thus susceptible of ownership by private persons, are presently (i) applied to some public purpose and (ii) held by the state or its political subdivisions in their capacity as public persons.[18]
bIllustrations
1)Necessarily public things: running waters, seashore, waters & bottoms of the Gulf of Mexico within Louisiana's borders, bottoms of navigable waterways[19]
2)Adventitiously public things: public squares, publicly-owned roads, public parks, public drainage ditches, cemeteries, publicly-owned markets[20]
cSignificance: The classification of a thing as necessarily or adventitiously public determines the duration of its insusceptibility to private ownership. If the thing is necessarily public, then it's public once and for all: it can never cease to be public and, therefore, can never become private.[21] If the thing is merely adventitiously public, by contrast, then its public status can end and when and if that happens, it becomes private.[22]
IICorporeals & Incorporeals
ADefinitions
1Corporeal things are things that have a body or physical form and that can therefore be felt and touched.[23]
2Incorporeal things are things (i) that have no body or physical form, that is, that cannot be felt or touched, or (ii) that are comprehended by the understanding.[24]
BIllustrations
1Corporeal things: land, buildings, crops, equipment, furniture, petroleum, water, air[25]
2Incorporeal things: rights of inheritance, personal servitudes (e.g., usufruct, habitation), predial servitudes, mineral rights, petitory actions, posessory actions, bonds, shares of stock, obligations (e.g., tort rights and contract rights), right of intellectual property[26]
CNature of criterion of distinction: physical[27]
DSignificance
1Property law
aPossession: Only corporeals are susceptible of "possession," at least in the original sense of the term and as its used in the current Civil Code.[28]
bServitudes: domain: Only corporeals--corporeal immovables, to be more precise--can be subjected to predial servitudes and the personal servitudes of right of use and habitation.[29] Incorporeals cannot.
2Others: law of obligations: contracts
aDonations inter vivos: donative formalties: Incorporeals can be donated only by means of authentic act.[30] Certain corporeals--corporeal movables, to be precise--can be donated by means of physical delivery, which the Code refers to as "manual gift."[31]
bSales: mode of delivery: Corporeal movables that have been sold have to be delivered physically, that is, handed over by seller to buyer.[32] Incorporeals, by contrast, are considered to be delivered as of the moment at which the instrument that represents them is negotiated or at which the agreement to transfer them is finalized.[33]
IIIConsumables & Nonconsumables
ADefinitions:
1Consumables are things that, by nature or by destination, cannot be used without being expended, consumed, or alienated or without their substance being changed.[34]
2Non-consumables are things that, by nature or by destination, may be enjoyed without being expended, consumed, or alienated and without alteration of their substance (aside from normal “wear and tear” associated with the use to which they are applied).[35] They continue to exist in spite of prolonged use.[36]
BIllustrations
1Consumable things: money, harvested agricultural products, stocks of merchandise, foodstuffs, beverages, fuels, negotiable instruments payable to bearer, certificates of deposit[37]
2Nonconsumable things: lands, houses, shares of stock, animals, furniture, vehicles, jewelry, clothes, machines[38]
CNature of the criterion of distinction: primarily objective (based on physical characteristics), though subjective factors (intended destination) can sometimes be relevant[39]
DSignificance
1Property law: real rights: servitudes: usufruct: A usufruct whose object is a non-consumable (traditionally known as a perfect usufruct) and a usufruct whose object is a consumable (traditionally known as an imperfect usufruct) are subject to quite different legal regimes.[40] To take two examples:
aWhereas the usufructuary of a non-consumable cannot alienate or encumber the thing, the usufructuary of a consumable can.[41]
bAt the termination of a usufruct on non-consumables, the usufructuary (or his successor) must deliver the non-consumables themselves to the owner (former naked owner)[42]; at the termination of a usufruct on consumables, by contrast, the usufructary (or his successor) must deliver to the owner (former naked owner) either (i) things of the same quantity and quality as the consumables or (ii) the value of the consumables as of the inception of the usufruct.[43]
2Others: obligations: contract: nominate contracts: loans: Whereas only consumable things may be the object of a mutuum (loan for consumption)[44], only non-consumable things may be the object of a commodatum (loan for use).[45]
IVFungibles & Infungibles
ADefinitions
1Fungibles: Two or more things are fungible vis-à-vis each other[46] if they belong to the same genre of things and if, by virtue of their physical characteristics or the intention of those who deal with them, they are interchangeable or substitutable one for the other in view of the end for which they will be used.[47] In commercial transactions, they are ordinarily bought and sold or otherwise traded by numbers, weight, or measure.[48]
2Infungibles: An infungible is a thing that, by virtue of its physical characteristics or the intention of those who are dealing with it, is unique in view of the end for which it will be used, so that it cannot be replaced by or interchanged with any other thing.[49]
BIllustrations
1Fungibles:agricultural products (a dozen eggs, 50 kilos of rice, 20 "head" of cattle), mineral products (e.g., a barrel of petroleum or 20 liters of gasoline), chemical substances (30 Viagara tablets), foodstuffs (10 boxes of Rice-a-Roni), drinks (50 cases of Abita Purple Haze), products in a series, provided they are new (e.g., 5 copies of Gore Vidal's latest novel or Madonna's latest CD; 100 Ronco Bass-o-Matics, 10 "fully-loaded" 1999 Yugos), money, financial instruments that are the equivalent of money[50]
2Infungibles: a family heirloom, a country house, a race horse, a master board, a collection of prizes, a period furniture piece, a numbered exemplar of a deluxe edition, a collection of rare coins, a garment made to measure, a piece of furniture fabricated by a craftsman according to a particular design, the originals of non-multiple works of art, all used things, land [51]
CNature of criterion of distinction: partly objective (based on physical characteristics) & partly subjective (based on intended use)[52]
DSignificance:
1Obligations law: sales: transfer of ownership: Whereas the ownership of a infungible thing is transferred from the seller to the buyer as soon as they agree on the thing and the price (even if delivery is postponed),[53] the ownership of an fungible thing is transferred only when the seller individualizes the thing (picks it out)[54] or weighs, counts, or measures out the required quantity of the thing from his stock of things of the same kind.[55]
2Obligations law: modes of extinguishing obligations: performance: In a case in the which the obligor owes a duty to give or to deliver, the qualification of the object of that duty as fungible or infungible will determine what performance is due and, so, what the obligor must do to extinguish the obligation through performance. If the object of that duty is a infungible, then the obligor must give or deliver that particular thing, whereas if the object of that duty is a fungible, then the obligor need only (and, indeed, can only) give or deliver some (any) thing that conforms to the generic description of that fungible.[56]
3Obligations law: modes of extinguishing obligations: compensation: Whereas reciprocal debts for the payment of things that are, as between themselves, fungible are susceptible of compensation, reciprocal debts for the payment of things that are, as between themselves, infungible are not.[57]
VDivisible & Indivisible Things
ADefinitions
1Divisible things: A thing is divisible if it can be physically divided into several discrete parts, provided that (i) the parts can be used for the same purposes as the undivided thing, (ii) the parts are of the same nature, (iii) the parts are of nearly equal value, and (iii) the aggregate value of the parts is not significantly less than the value of the undivided thing.[58]
2Indivisible things: A thing is indivisible if (i) it cannot be physically divided into discrete parts or (ii) though it can be so divided, (a) the parts can’t be used for the same purposes as the undivided thing, (b) the parts are not of the same nature, (c) the parts are not of the same value, or (d) the aggregate value of the parts is significantly less than the value of the undivided thing.[59]
BIllustrations
1Divisible things: undeveloped land, liquids, pieces of cloth, a slaughtered animal, a lot of merchandise, a sum of money[60]
2Indivisible things: a living animal, a work of art, a clock, a diamond, the roof or foundation of a building[61]
CNature of criterion of distinction: objective (partly physical, partly economic)
DSignificance: Whereas a co-owned divisible thing can be partitioned in kind (as well as by licitation),[62] a co-owned indivisible thing can be partitioned only by licitation, that is, it must be sold at public auction and the proceeds of the sale, divided among the co-owners.[63]
VISingle (Simple) & Composite (Complex) Things
ADefinitions
1Single things: A single (or simple) thing is a corporeal thing that, to the mind of a layman (as opposed to that of a scientist), appears to be composed of a single substance or to have a single essence.[64] It's seemingly singular character may be attributable to nature or to man.[65]
2Composite things: A composite (or complex) thing is a corporeal thing formed by the union of several corporeal things that, prior to this union, enjoyed a distinct physical existence, but that, by virtue of this union, seem to have lost their individuality and to have become but "component parts" (albeit essential ones) of a larger totality.[66] If any of these component parts were to be separated from the rest, then the thing formed by their union would, to the mind of a layman, be lost or destroyed.[67]
BIllustrations
1Single things: stones, pieces of metal, wood, organic matter, an animal, a plant, a piece of paper, a coin[68]
2Composite things: a piece of furniture, a car, a ship, an automobile, an armoire, a developed immovable[69]
CNature of the criterion of distinction: objective (based on a scientifically naive assessment of physical characteristics)
DSignificance: property & obligations law: transfer & encumbrance: The transfer or encumbrance of an immovable includes its component parts.[70]
VIIPrincipal Things & Accessory Things (Appurtenances)
ADefinitions
1An accessory (or appurtenance) is a thing that, by its nature, local usage, or the intention of its owner, is dedicated on an enduring basis to the service, preservation, ornamentation, or economic use of another thing, called the principal, but that nevertheless, despite this dedication, neither loses its individuality so as to become a component part of the principal nor undergoes significant physical modification.[71]
2The principal thing is the thing to which the accessory appertains.[72]
BIllustrations
1The spare tire and tire tools of a car (the principal) are the car’s accessories[73]
2The furniture in the lobby of a hotel (the principal) is an accessory of the hotel[74]
3A free-standing garage is an accessory of a house (the principal)[75]
4The service boats, life boats, furnishings, boarding devices, and tools of a ship (the principal) are the ship’s accessories[76]
5A statue placed in a garden (the principal) is an accessory of that garden[77]
6The accessories of a farm (the principal) may include tools, irrigation devices, seeds, fodder for animals[78]
7The accessories of a church building (the principal) include pews, candelabras, religious ornaments (e.g., a crucifix or an icon)[79]
8A water heater is an accessory of a building (the principal) 1[80]
CNature of the criterion of distinction: partly objective (based both on physical characteristics and economic relationship of the things) and partly subjective (based on destination of the owner)
DSignificance
1Property law: accession: movables: When two corporeal movables that are, as between each other, principal and accessory, are "united" to each other, the whole becomes the property of the owner of the principal, who then owes a duty of reimbursement to the former owner of the accessory.[81]
2Property & obligations law: ownership & sales: transfer: The sale of a thing includes all accessories intended for its use in accordance with the law of property.[82]
XFruits & Products
ADefinitions
1Fruits
aIn general: Fruits are things that are produced by or derived from another thing without, in the process, noticeably diminishing or altering the substance of that thing.[83] Though a thing need not be susceptible of periodic reproduction in perpetuity in order to qualify as a fruit, the vast majority of fruits do exhibit this characteristic.[84]
bVarieties:
1)Natural: Natural fruits are those that, with or without human assistance or intervention, are derived or produced from the earth, from animals, or from plants by means of natural processes (e.g., sexual reproduction, germination, growth of tissue, generation of bodily fluids).[85]
2)Civil: Civil fruits are revenues derived from a thing by operation of law or by reason of a juridical act.[86]
2Products
aIn general: Mere products are things that are produced or derived from another thing and that, in the process, diminish the substance of that thing.[87] Such things usually are not susceptible of periodic reproduction, at least not indefinitely (in other words, if the process of production continues, the underlying thing will eventually run out).[88]
bVarieties
1)Natural products are those that, prior to their derivation or production, were part and parcel of or, at the very least, physically united to the thing from which they were derived or produced.
2)Civil products are revenues generated by the transfer of the right to remove natural products or by the sale of those natural products themselves.
BIllustrations
1Fruits
aNatural: fruits of trees, vines, and bushes (e.g., pears, satsumas, grapes, blackberries, strawberries); nuts (e.g., pecans); crops (e.g., rice, sugar cane, soybeans, water melons); offspring of animals; milk; wool;[89] trees, provided they are produced from an established tree farm or a regularly exploited forest; minerals (e.g., oil and gas), provided they are produced from an open mine[90]
bCivil: rent, interest, stock dividends[91]
2Products
aNatural: trees, provided they are not part of a tree farm or regularly exploited forest; minerals (e.g., oil and gas) produced from a new mine[92]
bCivil: revenues generated from the sale of timber rights or from the sale of timber itself, provided that the timber is not part of a tree farm or a regularly exploited forest; mineral (e.g., oil and gas) royalties payable upon production of minerals from a new mine
CNature of the criterion of distinction: primarily objective (based on physical characteristics), secondarily subjective (deliberate alteration of the circumstances of production, e.g., drawing and implementation of plans for tree forests or mines)[93]
DSignificance: property law: ownership: accession with respect to fruits & products
1Products belong to the owner of the thing from which they are produced.[94] To this rule there are no exceptions.
2Fruits, too, ordinarily belong to the owner of the thing from which they are produced.[95] But to this rule, which is merely a general rule, there are exceptions:
aFruits produced by one who holds a usufruct over the underlying thing belong to the usufructuary.[96]
bFruits gathered by one who possesses the underlying thing in good faith belong to the possessor.[97]
cFruits produced from plantings made with the consent of a landowner belong to the planter, e.g., the lessee of a farm lease.[98]
XIImmovables & Movables
ADefinitions
1Immovable: Immovable things are (i) corporeal things (a) that are not susceptible of being moved from place to place or (b) that, by legislative fiat or by declaration of the owner, have been assimilated to such corporeal things and (ii) incorporeal things that have such corporeal things as their objects.[99]
2Movable: Movable things are those things that are not immovable.[100]
BClassifications
1Immovables
aCorporeal immovables