Legal Definitions - concessio

Concessio

Concessio is a historical legal term originating from Latin, meaning a grant. In common law, it referred specifically to the formal act of transferring ownership or rights related to incorporeal property. Incorporeal property consists of rights or interests that cannot be physically touched, possessed, or handed over, unlike physical assets such as land or buildings. Because these rights could not be physically transferred, their conveyance was historically accomplished through a formal written document, typically a "deed of grant" or charter. This process was distinct from the physical act of "livery of seisin" used for transferring tangible land.

Here are some examples illustrating the concept of a concessio:

• Right to Collect Tolls: Imagine a medieval lord who wished to allow a merchant to collect tolls from travelers using a specific bridge on the lord's estate for a set number of years. The lord would not be transferring ownership of the physical bridge itself, but rather the intangible right to levy and collect fees from its use. This transfer of an incorporeal right would have been formalized through a concessio, documented in a written grant.
• Exclusive Market Rights: Historically, a monarch or a powerful landowner might grant a town or a specific individual the exclusive privilege to hold an annual market or fair on certain dates within a designated area. This grant was not of the physical market ground, but rather the intangible right to operate the market, collect stall fees, and regulate trade. Such an exclusive privilege, being an incorporeal right, would have been conveyed through a formal concessio.
• Right to Extract Minerals: Consider a historical scenario where a landowner wanted to allow a mining company to extract coal from beneath their property for a specified period, without transferring ownership of the land itself. The mining company would receive an intangible right to access the sub-surface and extract resources. This right, which cannot be physically possessed in the same way as land, would have been formally transferred via a concessio, evidenced by a deed.