Curtilage in United Kingdom

Concept of Curtilage

The following is an old definition of Curtilage [1], a term which has several meanings:1. Originally, the land with the castle and out-houses, inclosed often with high walls, where the old barons sometimes held court in the open air. whence (the word(s) which follow it are derivatives from the same root word) court-yard

Alternative Meaning

The court-yard in the front or rear of a house, or at its side; any piece of ground lying near, inclosed, used with, and necessary for the convenient occupation of the house. A fence or inclosure of a small piece of land around a dwelling-house, usually including the buildings occupied in connection with the dwelling-house, the inclosure consisting either of a separate fence or partly of a fence and partly of the exterior of buildings so within this inclosure. If a bam, stable, or warehouse be parcel of the mansion-house, and within the same common fence, though not under the same roof nor contiguous, a burglary may be committed therein; for the capital house protects and privileges all its branches and appurtenances, if within the same curtilage or home-stall. It is perhaps unfortunate that this term, which is found in English statutes, and which is descriptive of the common arrangement of dwellings, and the yards surrounding them, in England, should have been perpetuated in our statutes. It is not strictly applicable to the common disposition of inclosures and buildings constituting the homestead of the inhabitants of this country. In England dwellings and out-houses of all kinds are usually surrounded by a fence or stone- wall, inclosing a small piece of land embracing the yards and out-buildings near the house constituting what is called the court. Such precautionary arrangements have not been necessary in this country. Nothing is implied as to the size of the parcel of land. In Michigan, includes more than an inclosure near the house. In § 4347, code of Alabama, defining arson in the second degree, includes the yard or space near a dwelling-house, within the same inclosure, and used in connection with it by the household; as, a ham which opens into such yard, in part separating it from another inclosure. Under a mechanics’ lien law, a jury may determine the necessary curtilage to which a lien extends.

Resources

Notes and References

1. Meaning of Curtilage provided by the Anderson Dictionary of Law (1889) (Dictionary of Law consisting of Judicial Definitions and Explanations of Words, Phrases and Maxims and an Exposition of the Principles of Law: Comprising a Dictionary and Compendium of American and English Jurisprudence; William C. Anderson; T. H. Flood and Company, Law Publishers, Chicago, United States)