We explain what real rights and personal rights are, what their general characteristics are and how they are classified.
Real law is the effective legal relationship between a thing and a person . They are absolute rights because they are held against the whole world, that is, over the remaining subjects. The figure of the real right arises from Roman law and its value is given in opposition to personal rights, or also called credit.
Real rights are linked to actions that have an erga omnes validity ("regarding everyone" or "against everyone) , since the right that is claimed affects the thing and not the person. That is to say, the action will be instructed in correlation with the thing and not towards whom it will be exercised.
The personal right is the provision of a thing, fact or abstention . Consequently, in credit or personal law, the object is a benefit from the debtor. Personal rights are relative, since they can only be effective against certain subjects who are bound by a legal relationship.
These are personal actions that are directed towards one (debtor) or towards more specific subjects (debtors) who, from the beginning, are known and only they become passive subjects of the action. Consequently, the right that is demanded afflicts the person of the debtor who must consummate a contract.
Real law applies to things ; the credit or personal requires a certain action of the debtor.
The real right can be exercised and made effective against everyone , while the personal right can only be made effective against the debtor and his heirs.
The real right is extinguished when the thing on which it falls perishes , while in personal law, when it has things as an indirect object, the perishment of these does not extinguish it, subsisting the obligation of compliance in the form of compensation for damages.
The real rights are executed with respect to a certain thing (domain, usufruct or inheritance). They may reside, for example, in the transfer of a real right from one person to another (such as ownership of property).
Personal rights are countless , since each of the parties can simultaneously create relationships that they consider beneficial through the principle of autonomy of will, the only restriction being that they operate in law.
Meanwhile, real rights can only be implemented by law , consequently their number will be restricted or closed. The elaboration of new real rights different from those considered by law is prohibited .
Real rights provide extensive and immediate power over the thing on which they are founded , both for enjoyment and disposition and for prosecution. Personal rights, on the other hand, do not have the right of prosecution and their times are tied to what is established by the parties in the corresponding contract.
Types of personal rights: