ACCESSIO

accessio   (ak-s<<schwa>>sh-ee-oh)   n.[Latin]   Roman   law.   1.   The   doctrine   by   which

something of lesser size, value, or importance is integrated into something of greater size, value,

or importance.

“If the identity of one thing (the accessory) is merged and lost in the identity of the other (the

principal), the  owner of the  principal is the  owner  of the thing….  There is said to be accessio….

The  term  is  used  by  some  commentators  (and,  following  them,  by  the  French  Civil  Code)  in  a

much wider sense to include all cases in which there has been an addition to my right, i.e. in which

the object of my ownership has increased. The owner of an animal therefore acquires ownership of

the  young  of  the  animal  at  birth  by  accessio,  though  in  physical  terms  there  has  been  not  an

accession  but a  separation.  In  this sense  accessio  includes all  the  original  natural  modes except

occupatio and thesauri inventio. And there are other, intermediate, meanings. Since accessio as an

abstract word is not Roman and no clear classification emerges from the texts, no one meaning or

classification can be said to be ‘right,’ but those adopted by the French Civil Code are so wide as

to be almost meaningless.” Barry Nicholas, An Introduction to Roman Law 133 & n.1 (1962).

2.ACCESSION(4). [Blacks Law 8th]