RIGHT
right,n.1. That which is proper under law, morality, or ethics <know right from wrong>.2.
Something that is due to a person by just claim, legal guarantee, or moral principle <the right of
liberty>.3. A power, privilege, or immunity secured to a person by law <the right to dispose of
one’s estate>.4. A legally enforceable claim that another will do or will not do a given act; a
recognized and protected interest the violation of which is a wrong <a breach of duty that infringes
one’s right>.5. (often pl.) The interest, claim, or ownership that one has in tangible or intangible
property <a debtor’s rights in collateral> <publishing rights>.6. The privilege of corporate
shareholders to purchase newly issued securities in amounts proportionate to their holdings. 7. The
negotiable certificate granting such a privilege to a corporate shareholder.
“Right is a correlative to duty; where there is no duty there can be no right. But the converse
is not necessarily true. There may be duties without rights. In order for a duty to create a right, it
must be a duty to act or forbear. Thus, among those duties which have rights corresponding to
them do not come the duties, if such there be, which call for an inward state of mind, as
distinguished from external acts or forbearances. It is only to acts and forbearances that others
have a right. It may be our duty to love our neighbor, but he has no right to our love.” John
Chipman Gray, The Nature and Sources of the Law 8–9 (2d ed. 1921).
“[T]he word ‘right’ is one of the most deceptive of pitfalls; it is so easy to slip from a
qualified meaning in the premise to an unqualified one in the conclusion. Most rights are
qualified.” American Bank & Trust Co. v. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, 256 U.S. 350, 358, 41
S.Ct. 499, 500 (1921)(Holmes, J.).
“[In Hohfeldian terminology,] A is said to have a right that B shall do an act when, if B does
not do the act, A can initiate legal proceedings that will result in coercing B. In such a situation B
is said to have a duty to do the act. Right and duty are therefore correlatives, since in this sense
there can never be a duty without a right.” E. Allen Farnsworth, Contracts § 3.4, at 114 n.3 (3d ed.
1999).
absolute right. 1. A right that belongs to every human being, such as the right of personal
liberty; a natural right. 2. An unqualified right; specif., a right that cannot be denied or curtailed
except under specific conditions < freedom of thought is an absolute right>. • For example, a
plaintiff has an absolute right to voluntarily nonsuit a case before it is finally submitted; after final
submission, the court has discretion to grant or deny a voluntary nonsuit. Cf. relative right.
accessory right.A supplementary right that has been added to the main right that is vested in
the same owner. • For example, the right in a security is accessory to the right that is secured; a
servitude is accessory to the ownership of the land for whose benefit the servitude exists. Cf.
principal right.
accrued right.A matured right; a right that is ripe for enforcement (as through litigation).
acquired right.A right that a person does not naturally enjoy, but that is instead procured, such
as the right to own property.
civil right.See CIVIL RIGHT. [Blacks Law 8th]
conditional right.A right that depends on an uncertain event; a right that may or may not exist.
• For example, parents have the conditional right to punish their child, the condition being that the
punishment must be reasonable.
conjugal rights.See CONJUGAL RIGHTS.
equitable right.A right cognizable within a court of equity. • If a legal right and an equitable
right conflict, the legal right ordinarily prevails over and destroys the equitable right even if the
legal right arose after the equitable right. With the merger of law and equity in federal and most
state courts, the procedural differences between legal and equitable rights have been largely
abolished. Cf. legal right. [Cases: Equity 3. C.J.S. Equity §§ 7, 11–16, 36–37.]
expectant right.A right that depends on the continued existence of present conditions until
some future event occurs; a contingent right.
fundamental right.See FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT.
imperfect right.A right that is recognized by the law but is not enforceable. • Examples
include time-barred claims and claims exceeding the local limits of a court’s jurisdiction.
“[T]here are certain rights, sometimes called imperfect rights, which the law recognizes but
will not enforce directly. Thus a statute-barred debt cannot be recovered in a court of law, but for
certain purposes the existence of the debt has legal significance. If the debtor pays the money, he
cannot later sue to recover it as money paid without consideration; and the imperfect right has the
faculty of becoming perfect if the debtor makes an acknowledgment of the debt from which there
can be inferred a promise to pay.” George Whitecross Paton, A Textbook of Jurisprudence 286
(G.W. Paton & David P. Derham eds., 4th ed. 1972).
imprescriptible right.A right that cannot be lost to prescription.
inalienable right.A right that cannot be transferred or surrendered; esp., a natural right such as
the right to own property. — Also termed inherent right.
incorporeal right.A right to intangible, rather than tangible, property. • A right to a legal
action (a chose in action) is an incorporeal right. See CHOSE IN ACTION.
inherent right.See inalienable right.
legal right. 1. A right created or recognized by law. 2. A right historically recognized by
common-law courts. Cf. equitable right. 3. The capacity of asserting a legally recognized claim
against one with a correlative duty to act.
natural right.A right that is conceived as part of natural law and that is therefore thought to
exist independently of rights created by government or society, such as the right to life, liberty,
and property. See NATURAL LAW.
negative right.A right entitling a person to have another refrain from doing an act that might
harm the person entitled.
patent right.A right secured by a patent. [Cases: Patents 1. C.J.S. Patents §§ 1–5, 10–12,
perfect right.A right that is recognized by the law and is fully enforceable.
peripheral right.A right that surrounds or springs from another right.
personal right. 1. A right that forms part of a person’s legal status or personal condition, as
opposed to the person’s estate. 2. See right in personam.
political right.The right to participate in the establishment or administration of government,
such as the right to vote or the right to hold public office. — Also termed political liberty. [Cases:
Constitutional Law 82(8); Elections 1; Officers and Public Employees 18. C.J.S.
Constitutional Law §§ 461–462, 612, 614–619, 624–626; Elections§§ 1(1, 10), 2; Officers and
Public Employees §§ 21–22.]
positive right.A right entitling a person to have another do some act for the benefit of the
person entitled.
precarious right.A right enjoyed at the pleasure of another; a right that can be revoked at any
time.
primary right.A right prescribed by the substantive law, such as a right not to be defamed or
assaulted. • The enforcement of a primary right is termed specific enforcement.
principal right.A right to which has been added a supplementary right in the same owner. Cf.
accessory right.
private right.A personal right, as opposed to a right of the public or the state. Cf. public right.
procedural right.A right that derives from legal or administrative procedure; a right that helps
in the protection or enforcement of a substantive right. Cf. substantive right.
property right.A right to specific property, whether tangible or intangible. [Cases:
Constitutional Law 277. C.J.S. Constitutional Law § 982.]
proprietary right.A right that is part of a person’s estate, assets, or property, as opposed to a
right arising from the person’s legal status.
public right.A right belonging to all citizens and usu. vested in and exercised by a public
office or political entity. Cf. private right.
real right. 1.Civil law. A right that is connected with a thing rather than a person. • Real rights
include ownership, use, habitation, usufruct, predial servitude, pledge, and real mortgage.
“The term ‘real rights’ (jura in re) is an abstraction unknown to classical Roman law. The
classical jurists were preoccupied with the availability of remedies rather than the existence of
substantive rights, and did not have a generic term to include all ‘rights’ which civilian scholars of
following generations classified as ‘real.’ The expression (‘real rights’) was first coined by
medieval writers elaborating on the Digest in an effort to explain ancient procedural forms of
action in terms of substantive rights.” A.N. Yiannopoulos, Real Rights in Louisiana and
Comparative Law, 23 La. L. Rev. 161, 163 (1963).
2.JUS IN RE. 3. See right in rem.
relative right.A right that arises from and depends on someone else’s right, as distinguished
from an absolute right. Cf. absolute right.
remedial right.The secondary right to have a remedy that arises when a primary right is
broken.
restitutory right.A right to restitution.
right in personam (in p<<schwa>>r-soh-n<<schwa>>m). An interest protected solely against
specific individuals. — Also termed personal right; jus in personam. See IN PERSONAM.
right in rem (in rem). A right exercisable against the world at large. — Also termed real right;
jus in rem. See IN REM.
“A right in rem need not relate to a tangible res. Thus a right that one’s reputation should not
be unjustifiably attacked is today described as a right in rem, since it is a right that avails against
persons generally. This shows how far the conception has developed from the Roman notion of
actio in rem, for one who sues to protect his reputation is not asking for judgment for a specific res.
It should also be noticed that on breach of a right in rem, a right in personam arises against the
aggressor.” George Whitecross Paton, A Textbook of Jurisprudence 300 (G.W. Paton & David P.
Derham eds., 4th ed. 1972).
secondary right.A right prescribed by procedural law to enforce a substantive right, such as
the right to damages for a breach of contract. • The enforcement of a secondary right is variously
termed secondary enforcement, remedial enforcement, or sanctional enforcement. — Also termed
remedial right; sanctioning right.
substantial right.An essential right that potentially affects the outcome of a lawsuit and is
capable of legal enforcement and protection, as distinguished from a mere technical or procedural
right.
substantive right (s<<schwa>>b-st<<schwa>>n-tiv). A right that can be protected or enforced
by law; a right of substance rather than form. Cf. procedural right.
vested right.A right that so completely and definitely belongs to a person that it cannot be
impaired or taken away without the person’s consent. [Cases: Constitutional Law 92–112. C.J.S.
Constitutional Law §§ 228–276.] [Blacks Law 8th]
right,n.1. That which is proper under law, morality, or ethics <know right from wrong>.2.
Something that is due to a person by just claim, legal guarantee, or moral principle <the right of
liberty>.3. A power, privilege, or immunity secured to a person by law <the right to dispose of
one’s estate>.4. A legally enforceable claim that another will do or will not do a given act; a
recognized and protected interest the violation of which is a wrong <a breach of duty that infringes
one’s right>.5. (often pl.) The interest, claim, or ownership that one has in tangible or intangible
property <a debtor’s rights in collateral> <publishing rights>.6. The privilege of corporate
shareholders to purchase newly issued securities in amounts proportionate to their holdings. 7. The
negotiable certificate granting such a privilege to a corporate shareholder.
“Right is a correlative to duty; where there is no duty there can be no right. But the converse
is not necessarily true. There may be duties without rights. In order for a duty to create a right, it
must be a duty to act or forbear. Thus, among those duties which have rights corresponding to
them do not come the duties, if such there be, which call for an inward state of mind, as
distinguished from external acts or forbearances. It is only to acts and forbearances that others
have a right. It may be our duty to love our neighbor, but he has no right to our love.” John
Chipman Gray, The Nature and Sources of the Law 8–9 (2d ed. 1921).
“[T]he word ‘right’ is one of the most deceptive of pitfalls; it is so easy to slip from a
qualified meaning in the premise to an unqualified one in the conclusion. Most rights are
qualified.” American Bank & Trust Co. v. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, 256 U.S. 350, 358, 41
S.Ct. 499, 500 (1921)(Holmes, J.).
“[In Hohfeldian terminology,] A is said to have a right that B shall do an act when, if B does
not do the act, A can initiate legal proceedings that will result in coercing B. In such a situation B
is said to have a duty to do the act. Right and duty are therefore correlatives, since in this sense
there can never be a duty without a right.” E. Allen Farnsworth, Contracts § 3.4, at 114 n.3 (3d ed.
1999).
absolute right. 1. A right that belongs to every human being, such as the right of personal
liberty; a natural right. 2. An unqualified right; specif., a right that cannot be denied or curtailed
except under specific conditions < freedom of thought is an absolute right>. • For example, a
plaintiff has an absolute right to voluntarily nonsuit a case before it is finally submitted; after final
submission, the court has discretion to grant or deny a voluntary nonsuit. Cf. relative right.
accessory right.A supplementary right that has been added to the main right that is vested in
the same owner. • For example, the right in a security is accessory to the right that is secured; a
servitude is accessory to the ownership of the land for whose benefit the servitude exists. Cf.
principal right.
accrued right.A matured right; a right that is ripe for enforcement (as through litigation).
acquired right.A right that a person does not naturally enjoy, but that is instead procured, such
as the right to own property.
civil right.See CIVIL RIGHT. [Blacks Law 8th]
conditional right.A right that depends on an uncertain event; a right that may or may not exist.
• For example, parents have the conditional right to punish their child, the condition being that the
punishment must be reasonable.
conjugal rights.See CONJUGAL RIGHTS.
equitable right.A right cognizable within a court of equity. • If a legal right and an equitable
right conflict, the legal right ordinarily prevails over and destroys the equitable right even if the
legal right arose after the equitable right. With the merger of law and equity in federal and most
state courts, the procedural differences between legal and equitable rights have been largely
abolished. Cf. legal right. [Cases: Equity 3. C.J.S. Equity §§ 7, 11–16, 36–37.]
expectant right.A right that depends on the continued existence of present conditions until
some future event occurs; a contingent right.
fundamental right.See FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT.
imperfect right.A right that is recognized by the law but is not enforceable. • Examples
include time-barred claims and claims exceeding the local limits of a court’s jurisdiction.
“[T]here are certain rights, sometimes called imperfect rights, which the law recognizes but
will not enforce directly. Thus a statute-barred debt cannot be recovered in a court of law, but for
certain purposes the existence of the debt has legal significance. If the debtor pays the money, he
cannot later sue to recover it as money paid without consideration; and the imperfect right has the
faculty of becoming perfect if the debtor makes an acknowledgment of the debt from which there
can be inferred a promise to pay.” George Whitecross Paton, A Textbook of Jurisprudence 286
(G.W. Paton & David P. Derham eds., 4th ed. 1972).
imprescriptible right.A right that cannot be lost to prescription.
inalienable right.A right that cannot be transferred or surrendered; esp., a natural right such as
the right to own property. — Also termed inherent right.
incorporeal right.A right to intangible, rather than tangible, property. • A right to a legal
action (a chose in action) is an incorporeal right. See CHOSE IN ACTION.
inherent right.See inalienable right.
legal right. 1. A right created or recognized by law. 2. A right historically recognized by
common-law courts. Cf. equitable right. 3. The capacity of asserting a legally recognized claim
against one with a correlative duty to act.
natural right.A right that is conceived as part of natural law and that is therefore thought to
exist independently of rights created by government or society, such as the right to life, liberty,
and property. See NATURAL LAW.
negative right.A right entitling a person to have another refrain from doing an act that might
harm the person entitled.
patent right.A right secured by a patent. [Cases: Patents 1. C.J.S. Patents §§ 1–5, 10–12,
perfect right.A right that is recognized by the law and is fully enforceable.
peripheral right.A right that surrounds or springs from another right.
personal right. 1. A right that forms part of a person’s legal status or personal condition, as
opposed to the person’s estate. 2. See right in personam.
political right.The right to participate in the establishment or administration of government,
such as the right to vote or the right to hold public office. — Also termed political liberty. [Cases:
Constitutional Law 82(8); Elections 1; Officers and Public Employees 18. C.J.S.
Constitutional Law §§ 461–462, 612, 614–619, 624–626; Elections§§ 1(1, 10), 2; Officers and
Public Employees §§ 21–22.]
positive right.A right entitling a person to have another do some act for the benefit of the
person entitled.
precarious right.A right enjoyed at the pleasure of another; a right that can be revoked at any
time.
primary right.A right prescribed by the substantive law, such as a right not to be defamed or
assaulted. • The enforcement of a primary right is termed specific enforcement.
principal right.A right to which has been added a supplementary right in the same owner. Cf.
accessory right.
private right.A personal right, as opposed to a right of the public or the state. Cf. public right.
procedural right.A right that derives from legal or administrative procedure; a right that helps
in the protection or enforcement of a substantive right. Cf. substantive right.
property right.A right to specific property, whether tangible or intangible. [Cases:
Constitutional Law 277. C.J.S. Constitutional Law § 982.]
proprietary right.A right that is part of a person’s estate, assets, or property, as opposed to a
right arising from the person’s legal status.
public right.A right belonging to all citizens and usu. vested in and exercised by a public
office or political entity. Cf. private right.
real right. 1.Civil law. A right that is connected with a thing rather than a person. • Real rights
include ownership, use, habitation, usufruct, predial servitude, pledge, and real mortgage.
“The term ‘real rights’ (jura in re) is an abstraction unknown to classical Roman law. The
classical jurists were preoccupied with the availability of remedies rather than the existence of
substantive rights, and did not have a generic term to include all ‘rights’ which civilian scholars of
following generations classified as ‘real.’ The expression (‘real rights’) was first coined by
medieval writers elaborating on the Digest in an effort to explain ancient procedural forms of
action in terms of substantive rights.” A.N. Yiannopoulos, Real Rights in Louisiana and
Comparative Law, 23 La. L. Rev. 161, 163 (1963).
2.JUS IN RE. 3. See right in rem.
relative right.A right that arises from and depends on someone else’s right, as distinguished
from an absolute right. Cf. absolute right.
remedial right.The secondary right to have a remedy that arises when a primary right is
broken.
restitutory right.A right to restitution.
right in personam (in p<<schwa>>r-soh-n<<schwa>>m). An interest protected solely against
specific individuals. — Also termed personal right; jus in personam. See IN PERSONAM.
right in rem (in rem). A right exercisable against the world at large. — Also termed real right;
jus in rem. See IN REM.
“A right in rem need not relate to a tangible res. Thus a right that one’s reputation should not
be unjustifiably attacked is today described as a right in rem, since it is a right that avails against
persons generally. This shows how far the conception has developed from the Roman notion of
actio in rem, for one who sues to protect his reputation is not asking for judgment for a specific res.
It should also be noticed that on breach of a right in rem, a right in personam arises against the
aggressor.” George Whitecross Paton, A Textbook of Jurisprudence 300 (G.W. Paton & David P.
Derham eds., 4th ed. 1972).
secondary right.A right prescribed by procedural law to enforce a substantive right, such as
the right to damages for a breach of contract. • The enforcement of a secondary right is variously
termed secondary enforcement, remedial enforcement, or sanctional enforcement. — Also termed
remedial right; sanctioning right.
substantial right.An essential right that potentially affects the outcome of a lawsuit and is
capable of legal enforcement and protection, as distinguished from a mere technical or procedural
right.
substantive right (s<<schwa>>b-st<<schwa>>n-tiv). A right that can be protected or enforced
by law; a right of substance rather than form. Cf. procedural right.
vested right.A right that so completely and definitely belongs to a person that it cannot be
impaired or taken away without the person’s consent. [Cases: Constitutional Law 92–112. C.J.S.
Constitutional Law §§ 228–276.] [Blacks Law 8th]