... but is also of fundamental importance. As regards to real property nobody actually 'owns' land apart from the crown. This concept goes back hundreds of years when it was said that the King or Queen owned all the land and that people merely owned estates in this land. However these estates are usually as good as ownership. In this light it is evident that possession is the key to 'ownership'. If the Crown has the best property right over the land then the person with the next best property right is that person in possession of the land. Bringing in Locke's 'labour theory', land which no one owned was originally claimed by a person taking possession of it and putting some labour into it, thereby becoming the owner. The person who took possession of the land and subsequently took physical control then acquired various property rights over others. The idea ...

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