Prescription is a title derived from use and time, having the force of law.

Explanation

Rights of dominion may be acquired by long and uninterrupted use — time, combined with quiet possession, creates title.

Where this applies

• A family has used a dirt road across their neighbor's land to reach the highway for over forty years without interruption or objection — their continuous use over time has created a prescriptive easement with the force of legal title.
• A community has drawn water from a shared spring for generations, and the current landowner now tries to block access — the long, uninterrupted use by the community has ripened into a prescriptive right that cannot be unilaterally revoked.
• A fisherman has launched his boat from the same private dock every season for thirty years with the owner's knowledge and no objection — prescription, born from use and time, gives him a right to continue that the dock owner must now respect.

See also

• 5.1.10 He who is first in time is stronger in right.
• 5.1.13 Long possession begets right.