Right to property

The right to property, or the right to own property (cf. ownership), is often^{[how often?]} classified as a human right for natural persons regarding their possessions. A general recognition of a right to private property is found^{[citation needed]} more rarely and is typically heavily constrained insofar as property is owned by legal persons (i.e. corporations) and where it is used for production rather than consumption.^[1]^{[need quotation to verify]} The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution is credited as a significant precedent for the legal protection of individual property rights.

A right to property is specified in Article 17 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights,^[2] but it is not recognised in the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights or in the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.^[3] The 1950 European Convention on Human Rights acknowledges a right for a natural or legal person to "peaceful enjoyment of his possessions", subject to the "general interest or to secure the payment of taxes."^[4]

^ See generally Berle, Adolph A. (1965). "Property, Production and Revolution". Columbia Law Review. 65 (1): 1–20. doi:10.2307/1120512. JSTOR 1120512.
^ "Universal Declaration of Human Rights". un.org. Article 17. 1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
^ Doebbler, Curtis F. J. (2006). Introduction to International Human Rights Law. CD Publishing. pp. 141–142. ISBN 978-0-9743570-2-7.
^ European Convention on Human Rights, protocol 1, article 1