Servitude in civil law

A servitude is a qualified beneficial interest severed or fragmented from the ownership of an inferior property (servient estate) and attached to a superior property (dominant estate) or to some person (personal beneficiary) other than the owner. At civil law, ownership (dominium) (e. g. of land) is the only full real right whereas a servitude is a subordinate real right on par with wayleaves, real burdens (i. e. real covenants), security interests, and reservations. There are two types: predial, attaching to property, and personal, attaching to a person. A servitude cannot impose the performance of a positive duty on the owner of the burdened property but only duties either to refrain from exercising certain rights to which an owner could be otherwise entitled (negative servitude) or to suffer certain things to be done to his property which an owner otherwise could be entitled to forbid or resist (positive servitude). Servitudes arise from express agreement, adverse possession, or as a matter of law.

Originally, enclave was a term of property law, across much of Europe, particularly seen early in 15th century France derived from earlier ecclesiastical senses, for the situation of a main estate of land or a parcel of land surrounded by land owned by a different owner(s), and that could not be reached for its exploitation in a practical and sufficient manner without crossing the surrounding land. In law, this created a servitude of passage for the benefit of the owner of the surrounded land.

Under Quebec law, a servitude is a real right excluding third parties and which is created sui generis, by agreement (ex contractu), or by operation of law (ex lege). Quebec Civil Code, article 1177 provides:
A servitude is a charge imposed on an immovable, the servient land, in favour of another immovable, the dominant land, belonging to a different owner. [ ]

Quebec law distinguishes between predial and personal servitudes. A predial servitude is a perpetual real right in the property of another (the servient estate) which confers on the owner of the dominant estate permanent, specific entitlements of use and enjoyment (beneficial interest) of the servient estate. A personal servitude is a limited real right granting the holder specific entitlements of use and enjoyment of an item of movable (personal) or immovable (real) property of another in his personal capacity for a specific period or his lifetime or, in the case of a legal person, for a maximum of 100 years.