Civil Code.

The Italian Civil Code was adopted by Royal Decree No. 262 on 16 March 1942. The text of the Code consists of the following Six Books, each of them divided into separate Titles: I) Persons and family; II) Successions; III) Ownership; IV) Obligations; V) Labour; VI) Protection of rights. Final and transitory provisions are laid down.
PROPERTY AND REAL RIGHTS. The Third Book is divided into nine Titles and establishes the principles governing the acquisition and exercise of property and other real rights. As a general rule, no one can be deprived in whole or in part of the assets owned by him except for reasons of public interest, legally declared, and against the payment of indemnity (article 834). The rules relating to expropriation for reasons of public interest are determined by special laws. Title I (articles 810-831) classifies movable and immovable property for the purposes of applying the rules on real rights. The fruits of goods can be natural or civil (art. 820). Title I also introduces the general principles on the regime of public property. The coast, the beach, the bays and the ports belong to the State and are part of the public domain; rivers, streams, lakes and other waters defined as public by the relevant laws belong to the public domain too. Title II (arts. 832-951) regulates the various ways of acquiring property and the actions in defense of this right. The right to property is acquired by occupation, by invention, by accession, by specification, by union or commingling, by acquisitive prescription («usucapione»), by effect of contracts, or by succession due to death. Chapter II of Title II (articles 840-921) adresses land ownership and establishes specific rules on: extension of the right to the subsoil and the space above the ground, the exercise of hunting and fishing in private lands, the compulsory transfer of lands, land reclamation, hydrogeological constraints and river defenses, distances for plantations and trees, minimum distances for apiaries. Land ownership is subject to special rules for the achievement of purposes of public interest in the cases provided for by special laws (article 845). The other real rights regulated by the Third Book are the following: surface rights (articles 952-956), emphyteusis (articles 957-977); usufruct, use and habitation (articles 978-1026); land easement (articles 1027-1099); common property (art. 1100-1139). Possession is regulated by articles 1140-1170, which determine the period necessary to acquire the right of ownership by adverse prescription (usucapione). Article 1159-bis concerns the special acquisitive prescription applicable to small rural property: the ownership of rural land located in municipalities classified as mountain areas by law is acquired by virtue of continued possession for fifteen years.
OBLIGATIONS AND CONTRACTS. The Fourth Book of the Civil Code firstly contains the general provisions that apply to all types of obligations (contractual and non-contractual) and further regulates the principles on contracts in general (articles 1321-1469), the types of contracts (articles 1470-1986), and non-contractual obligations (unilateral promises, unjustified enrichment and torts, among others). Some of the contracts specifically regulated by articles 1470-1986 are the sale, the exchange, the lease, the deposit, the loan. The Code establishes the obligations of the parties. Regarding the sale and warranty for defects in the thing sold, it is worth mentioning art. 1496 on the sale of animals. Further, articles 1615-1646 regulate the rental of productive assets (movable or immovable): when the lease has as its object the enjoyment of a productive, movable or immovable thing, the tenant must take care of its management in accordance with the economic destination of the thing and the interest of the production. There are specific rules on the rental of lands intended for reforestation: the rental of rustic land intended for reforestation can be stipulated for a maximum term of ninety-nine years (article 1629). Provisions on the renting of livestock are laid down as well (articles 1642-1645). The lease to direct farmers is explicitly regulated by specific rules which provide that if the tenant cannot provide otherwise, the landlord is required to advance the seeds and fertilizer and pesticide materials necessary for the cultivation of the land (article 1652). The contract of agistment («soccida») for the breeding of animals is regulated in the context of agricultural enterprises (article 2170).
INHERITANCE. The Second Book is entirely dedicated to successions, and governs the acquisition of the inheritance by legitimate succession, will or legacy. As a general rule, all those who were born or conceived at the time of the opening of the succession are capable of succeeding (art. 462). Title II of this Book regulates in detail legitimate succession, in which the inheritance is devolved to the spouse, descendants, ascendants, collaterals, other relatives and the State in this order.
AGRICULTURE. Within the Fifth Book (on labour), Chapter II is devoted to agricultural enterprises. An agricultural entrepreneur is anyone who carries out one of the following activities: land cultivation, forestry, animal breeding and related activities (art. 2135). Special rules are applicable to agricultural enterprises regarding the responsibility of the entrepreneur, the powers of the managers, the exchange of labor and services between agricultural entrepreneurs, relations within the farmhouse, the association for the cultivation of land in the "partial colony" (art. 2164).
LIVESTOCK AND ANIMAL PRODUCTION. The Code contains various provisions applicable to animal breeding activities: rights of the owner of animals (art. 925), rights and obligations of the farmer who raises animals (art. 2135); rules on distances between apiaries (art. 896 bis); the right of the owner of swarms of bees (art. 924). It is necessary to point out article 2170 on the relationship of agistment («soccida»), by virtue of which the contracting parties join together for the breeding and exploitation of a certain quantity of livestock and for the exercise of related activities, in order to distribute the raising of livestock and other products and profits derived from them.
FISHERIES. Article 842 (on hunting and fishing) states that the owner of a land cannot prevent entry for hunting, unless the land is closed in the manner established by the hunting law or there are crops in place susceptible to damage. He can always oppose those who do not have a license issued by the authority. For the exercise of fishing, the consent of the owner of the land is required.
FORESTRY. Forests are part of the unavailable domain and constitute the State forest property (art. 826). In matter of usufruct, article 989 establishes that if forests for the production of timber are included, the usufructuary can proceed with the ordinary cuts, taking care to maintain the original consistency of the forests and providing, if necessary, to their reconstitution. As regards the manner, extent, order and time of the cuts, the usufructuary is required to comply with the constant practice of the region as well as with forestry laws and regulations.
WATER. The code contains numerous provisions relating to the exploitation of water resources. Springs and watercourses are classified as immovable property (art. 812). Article 822 specifies the watercourses that are part of the public domain. Various provisions on water are provided in the title relating to the right of ownership, and establish the cases in which the owner of a land is also the owner of the waterway. As a general rule, the owner of the land has the right to use the waters existing in it, subject to the provisions of the special laws for public waters and groundwater (art. 909). Article 868 establishes that the owners of buildings located near waterways that cause or threaten damage to agriculture, to inhabited areas or to artifacts of public interest are obliged, even independently of a reclamation plan, to contribute the execution of the works necessary for the regulation of the watercourse in the forms established by the special laws. Further provisions regulate the opening of new water pipelines (art. 1034) as well as the conditions for the establishment of the easement to allow the water to pass on the bottom of others (art. 1037), for the compulsory discharge of water (art. 1043) and for remediation (art. 1044). Detailed rules on the water intake or diversion facility are introduced in articles 1080-1099.
MINERAL RESOURCES AND MINING. In the context of the right of usufruct, article 987 deals with mines and quarries. The usufructuary enjoys the quarries already open and in operation at the beginning of the usufruct. It has no right to open others without the owner's consent. For mining research and exploitation, for which he has obtained permission, the usufructuary must indemnify the owner for the damages that will be ascertained at the end of the usufruct.
ENERGY. Natural energies that have economic value are considered movable assets (art. 814), and therefore all the provisions on property rights and real rights relating to movable things will be applicable. Article 1122 bis refers to the installation of plants for the production of energy from renewable sources in the case of common property.