Eminent Domain

Eminent Domain, a phrase which occurs more commonly in its Latin form, dominium eminens, denotes the universal right in the public over property, by virtue of which the supreme authority in a state may compel a proprietor to part with what is his own for the public use. Thus a private owner may be compelled to give up part of his land that a public highway may be made through his ground. For the just exercise of this right there must be a necessity or clear public utility in the work proposed; and the expropriated owner must be compensated for his loss. The right is now exercised only under well-defined statutory regulations, as in the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845, which regulates the purchase of lands for railways and other public undertakings.