AD COELUM CONCEPT – LAND LAW
The general rule is when you take title to a property you
also have title to the land it stands on. This includes the
space above and the ground below.
English common law has its roots in Roman Law principles
and this principle is neatly encapsulated in the Latin Maxim
known by lawyers as “Ad Coelum….” which is abbreviated
from “Cuius est solum eius est usque ad coelum et ad
infernos” The literal translation of this is “[for] whoever
owns [the] soil, [it] is his all the way [up] to Heaven and
[down] to Hell.”
As the name describes, the principle is that a person who
owns a particular piece of land owns everything above and
below it as well. Consequently, the owner could prosecute
trespass against people who violated the border but never
actually touched the soil. As with any other property rights,
the owner can sell or lease it to others, or it may be taken
or regulated by the state.
For example, suppose three people owned neighboring plots
of land. The owners of the plots on the ends want to build a
bridge over the center plot connecting their two properties.
Even though the bridge would never touch the soil of the
owner in the middle, the principle of
cuius est solum
would
allow the middle owner to stop its construction or demand
payment for the right to do so. By the same principle, a
person who wants to mine under somebody's land would
have to get permission from the owner to do so, even if the
mine entrance was on neighboring land.
The Causby case rejected the notion that property
ownership extended upward 'indefinitely', while still
recognizing a landowner retains complete domain over the
lower altitudes above their property. The court noted that
ad coelum "had no meaning in the modern world", while
also holding that "if the landowner is to have full enjoyment
