Guide to Rights of Way in France

We are pleased today to release our Guide to Rights of Way in France.

It is possible to distinguish two types of general rights of way over land:

1. i. Those of a personal nature which merely authorise one or more parties to use a right of way and:
2. ii. Those that grant rights to the property, and which therefore bind both present and future owners, and which are known as 'servitudes'.

In addition to these general rights of way the law recognises the right of a property owner to obtain temporary access to a neighbour’s property in order to undertake maintenance work to their own property. This right is known as le droit de tour d’échelle.

Where a property has no means of access to the public highway, or the access provided is inadequate, then the owner can invoke le droit de désenclavement, under which a neighbour is obliged to grant a right of way.

There are also specific rights of way for fishing and shooting.

Unless otherwise specified by agreement, no third party has the right to fish on a private stretch of water that runs through privately owned property. Nevertheless, there are rights concerning access to publicly owned rivers.

Similarly, as a normal rule, no one can have shooting rights on a private property without the specific consent of the owner of the land.

Nevertheless, the law permits local shooting clubs to organise themselves into an accredited communal association, which then grants them shooting rights for successive periods of five years over all land within the designated commune.

You can read more in our full Guide to Rights of Way in France.

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