Libro Segundo · Título II Capítulo VI. De la propiedad por ocupación

Movable or semovient things that belong to no one may be acquired by occupation, in accordance with the provisions of special laws.

Immovables cannot be acquired by occupation. Those which have not been reduced to private ownership belong to the Nation.

Stones, shells and other substances found on the banks of the sea, rivers and streams, for public use and showing no signs of prior ownership, may be subject to occupation.

Things whose ownership is voluntarily abandoned by their owner may also be subject to occupation.

Treasure found on one's own land belongs entirely to the discoverer.

Treasure found on another's land shall be divided in equal parts between the owner of the land and the person who made the discovery. However, the discoverer shall have no right to his portion except when the discovery is fortuitous, or when he has sought the treasure with the permission of the owner of the land.

No person may search for treasure on another's land without written permission of the owner.

The interested party who obtains permission and furnishes guarantee to the satisfaction of the owner may make excavations to remove money, jewelry, or precious objects that he alleges belong to him.

If the right to said money, jewels or precious objects is not proven, they shall be considered as lost property or as treasure found on another's soil, according to the antecedents and signs.

In the second case of the preceding article, after deducting costs the treasure shall be divided in equal parts between the informant and the owner of the land; but the latter may not claim compensation for losses, unless he renounces his portion.

Whoever finds a movable or animal apparently lost and whose owner is unknown shall present it to the municipal authority nearest to the place where the finding occurred.

The authority receiving the found property shall make the fact publicly known, and if upon expiration of the fixed term no person appears who proves ownership thereof, it shall be sold at public auction.

The owner who recovers the lost property or its price is obligated to pay the expenses and to pay to the person who found it ten percent of the value of the thing or of the proceeds of the sale.

A person who finds lost things and does not deliver them to the authority shall lose their share in favor of the justice funds and shall remain subject to the action for damage and losses that the owner may bring and, according to the circumstances, to the corresponding penal sanction.

The procedure that the authority must follow in the case of the finding of things referred to in the three preceding articles shall be that set forth in the special law on unclaimed property.

Things thrown by navigators on water and in the air to lighten the craft shall not be presumed abandoned by their owners, nor shall wreckage resulting from the disaster.

Things taken out to the public thoroughfare or to another place for the purpose of saving them in the event of earthquake, fire or other disaster shall likewise not be presumed abandoned.

Untamed or wild animals are susceptible to occupation by hunting and fishing.

Hunting may be carried out only on one's own lands, or on the lands of others with the owner's permission. However, such permission shall not be required if the lands are neither fenced, nor planted, nor cultivated.

If any person hunts on lands of another without the owner's permission, when by law he is obligated to obtain it, what he hunts shall belong to the owner, whom he shall furthermore indemnify for all damage.

It is understood that the hunter or fisherman takes possession of the wild animal and makes it his own, from the moment he has wounded it in such a way that it cannot easily escape, and while he persists in pursuing it, or from the moment the animal has fallen into his traps or nets, provided that he has set or laid them in a place where it is lawful for him to hunt or fish.

If the wounded animal should die on lands of another where it is not lawful to hunt without the owner's permission, said owner or whoever represents him shall deliver it to the hunter or permit him to enter to search for it.

If he does not give permission, he shall pay the value of the wounded animal; but if the hunter enters to search for it without said permission, he shall lose all right.

Ferocious animals that escape from the confinement in which their owners keep them may be destroyed by anyone and may also be occupied from the moment the owner abandons pursuit of them.

Any person may take possession of wild animals and make them his own as soon as they recover their natural liberty, provided that the owner is not in pursuit of them.

The non-domestic animals and fish that pass from their respective breeding place to another belonging to a different owner shall be the property of the latter, provided they have not been attracted by means of any artifice or deception, for in this case the captor shall be obligated to compensation for all harm and to the return of the specimen taken.

The owner of a swarm of bees shall have the right to pursue it onto another's land, indemnifying the possessor thereof for the damage caused.

Animals without any brand that are found on a private estate are presumed to belong to the owner thereof, until the contrary is proved, unless the owner has no breeding stock of the breed to which the animals belong.

Animals without a mark found on privately owned lands exploited in common by several persons are presumed to belong to the owner of the breeding stock of the same species and of the same breed established therein, unless the contrary is proved; but if two or more are owners of the same species or breed, they shall be deemed common property if it is not proved that they belong to any of them.

Domestic animals, which are born and are ordinarily raised under the dominion of man, even if they leave his power, may be reclaimed from anyone who retains them, paying the expenses of their feeding if any have been incurred.

The exercise of hunting and fishing shall be subject to the regulations on the matter.