Private Servitude Law and Legal Definition
A private servitude is a servitude vested in a particular person. A landowner’s right to walk (personal right of way) over an adjoining piece of land, and a person’s right to fish in another person’s lake are all examples of private servitudes. These are rights personal in nature and intended to be used/enjoyed by a particular person.
Prior to the effective date of the Civil Code of 1889, a private servitude of right-of-way could be acquired by use from time immemorial under Partida III, tit. 31, law 15, and if the use had begun prior to 1889, the right of way could be acquired by prescription despite the fact that on the effective date of such Code, the servitude had not yet been consolidated by immemorial prescription. [Figueroa v. Guerra, 69 P.R.R. 565 (1949)].
