Productive Use in Acquisition, Accession, and Labour Theory

Abstract

This chapter aims to familiarize legal scholars with the political-philosophy literature on productive labour and use, and to show how a theory of labour, grounded in natural law and rights, may prescribe laws and policies appealing both to ‘fairness’ and ‘welfare’ — reconciling each to the other and thus avoiding incoherence. The chapter is organized as follows. Sections 2–5 restate the foundations for labour-based property rights relying on productive labour theory, focusing on the insights needed to apply those foundations to capture, lost capture, and ratione soli doctrines. Section 2 defines and justifies a natural-rights liberty interest in productive labour, and Section 3 extends that interest to property. Sections 4 and 5 show how labour-based property rights justify two legal principles related to accession: exclusive control over land and chattels, and accession principles. Sections 6 examines how property rights are settled in ‘lost capture’ disputes; Section 7 does the same in relation to capture doctrine and variations on it; and Section 8 does so for the fixture and ratione soli doctrines. Section 9 then makes some general observations about the relation between productive labour theory and legal practice.

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