 Common goods are understood as the goods that could be enjoyed by all and each of the members of a group without any privilege being an obligation of the state to distribute them in an equitably way.  Category of Goods between the private and public goods that are given by the nature to all human beings and are fundamental to for living and for human dignity. Because of its importance, common goods are considerate as human rights that cannot have price and should benefit to all individuals.  León Duguit: more than rights, every person has individual and collective duties and a social function to comply.

Although there could be considered eco- nomic and social causes that generated the French Revolution, its real motive was political, based in the struggle against absolute monarchy that unified all the power of the state in the king.  The revolution was impelled by the bourgeois, a wealthy class in French society, that was the only one that was required to pay taxes without political rights.  The bourgeois, based on the Enlightenment ideas of Montesquieu, Rousseau and Voltaire, (who began to see the reason and not the faith as a source of Knowledge), began to realize that the political power of any State should release in the people and do not in the king.

Also, the bourgeois opposed to the feudal system and to an absolute monarchy, and as result of that, on 14 th of July, 1789, they took the Bastille (an old fortress where the king’s opponents were imprisoned). This event became a symbol of the struggle against the royal power. Then, on 26 th August, 1789, the Constituent Assembly proclaimed the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.

 As the result of the French Revolution, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, established the natural rights of man (those are granted by the nature to all human beings and do not depend of the men’s will) that should be applied as an obligation for the governors in France.  It is important to establish that until then, legal “rights” were granted by the monarch by his only absolute discretion.

 Art. 2:“The aim of every political association is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of Man. These rights are Liberty, Property, Safety and Resistance to Oppression”.  This article consecrates and recognizes property as a natural and inalienable right (not extinguished by lapse of time).

 Art. 4: “Liberty consists in being able to do anything that does not harm others: thus, the exercise of the natural rights of every man has no bounds other than those that ensure to the other members of society the enjoyment of these same rights. These bounds may be determined only by Law”.  This article was created explicitly to protect freedom, under the sense that each individual could do anything that he/she wanted; meaning with that he/she could freely exercise his/her natural rights (such as property rights) within the framework of the law, and while not harming others.

 Art. 17: “Since the right to Property is inviolable and sacred, no one may be deprived thereof, unless public necessity, legally ascertained, obviously requires it, and just and prior indemnity has been paid”.  This article safeguards the inviolability of private property, only allowing its expropriation for public utility and upon compensation.

 The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen has been the seed of the Democracy in Europe and in the world, and, as a consequence of that, the spirit of this law has influenced many legislations (as Italian Legislation) that had recognized and picked up its universal principles.

 It had the virtue of gathering under the same code the most important rules of private law existing at that time. This code has been based on the institutes of the juris Corpus Civilis of Justinian.  Napoleon's Code recognized the main principles of private property that until now are established in the today's French Civil Code.  The most relevant articles in relation to article 41 of Italy’s Political Constitution are:  Art. 544: “Property is the right of enjoying and disposing of things in the most absolute manner, provided they are not used in a way prohibited by the laws or statutes”.  In accordance to some authors, the notion of absolute property was created in order to distinguish the right of property among other rights as usufruct. Also, the legislators intended to give it a special protection from the State recognizing that ownerships can freely use and dispose their property without any other limitation than law.  Other authors such as Valencia Zea, established that through the notion of absolute property, the owner has not only freedom or control over existing things, but especially has the freedom to produce new things, which, for them, included the work force.

 Art. 545: “No one can be compelled to give up his property, except for the public good and for a just and previous indemnity”.  In relation to Art. 41 of the Italian Political Constitution, both articles demonstrate a clear respect and recognition of private property, recognizing also the exception to absolute private property rights in the circumstance that such rights affect the public good, so long as the State has previously provided compensation for expropriation of property.

 Art. 537:“Private individuals have the free disposal of property which belongs to them, subject to the modifications established by legislation. Property which does not belong to private individuals is administered and may be transferred only in the forms and according to the rules which are peculiar to it.”  It recognizes that private property can be freely disposed by the owners. This is important since the free circulation of property in the market is essential to stimulate private enterprise, investment, productivity and economic efficiency.

 Art. 538:“Ways, roads and streets of which the State is in charge, navigable or floatable rivers and streams, beaches, foreshore, ports, harbors, anchorages and generally all parts of French territory which are not capable of private ownership are deemed to be dependencies of the Public Domain.”  It is relevant because it establishes that common resources are of public domain and are not capable of private ownership.

 Art. 542:“Common property is that to whose ownership or revenue the inhabitants of one or several communes have a vested right.”  It is relevant because it gives a definition of the common property recognizing and protecting the rights of the municipalities and the communes.  Art. 544:“Ownership is the right to enjoy and dispose of things in the most absolute manner, provided they are not used in a way prohibited by statutes or regulations.”  This article establishes property as an absolute right that allows the owner to use, to dispose and to transfer his property freely, as long as his acts are not forbidden by law.

 Art. 545:“No one may be compelled to yield his ownership, unless for public purposes and for a fair and previous indemnity.”  It respects private property, recognizing also that in case of public purposes, it may be expropriated with a previous fair indemnization.

Private property is a perpetual right, constituted as a fundamental individual right, but, by the other hamd, we must not fail to recognize the concept of common good and social function that the private property should fulfill.