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Historical Background Of English Law System

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Historical Background
Fragmentation of land has been an ongoing phenomenon for many centuries and is backed by the notion of maximizing its potential utility, given its scarce nature. In the feudal system, one’s relationship to land is defined by their hierarchical position. The king stood at the top of the pyramid and ruled over all the lands, and would grant partial rights to the Lords. Through grants, the land would then be held in fief by vassals, in exchange for personal loyalty to those below them. This gave rise to fragmentation of land carried forth by hereditary systems. Since the fall of feudalism, there has been increasing calls for absolute unification of property rights especially during the modern European codification. This “unitary theory of property rights” only allowed for several exceptions for property rights to be shared. But this transition has not proven to be smooth.

Issue at Hand
English law system is now faced with the challenge to balance between the need to diminish fragmentation in property through legislative instruments and doctrines; and allowing landowners to freely exercise their contractual freedom to deal or convey their property, as they deem apposite. I feel that the English law has been successful in drawing this balance mainly through the numerus clausus principle.

Before discussing the effectiveness of these restrictive instruments, we must first clarify the difference between contractual rights and property rights. The biggest

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