How did Sir William Blackstone divide legal rights in his Commentaries?

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In his influential work, Commentaries on the Laws of England, Sir William Blackstone organized his description of English law into four books, which included a fundamental distinction between the "rights of persons" and the "rights of things".12

Blackstone’s division of legal rights and subjects was structured as follows:

  • Of the Rights of Persons: This book addressed family and public law.1
  • Of the Rights of Things: This section provided an outline of real-property law.1
  • Of Private Wrongs: This volume covered civil liability, courts, and legal procedure.1
  • Of Public Wrongs: This book served as a study of criminal law.1

While this framework was highly successful and became a standard for legal education, it has been noted by scholars that his distinction between the rights of persons and the rights of things was likely based on a misunderstanding of technical terms found in Roman law, as it implied that inanimate objects could possess rights.3