Eminent domain
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Eminent domain is a term in law to describe the power of the state to appropriate private property for public use. In its broadest sense, it is the concept of the right which the state has to perform such activities as taxation, expropriation and condemnation.
More narrowly, it is used to describe the power of government to confiscate private property for government use. Governments most commonly use the power of eminent domain when the acquisition of real property is necessary for the completion of a public project such as a road, but the owner of the required property is unwilling to negotiate a price for its sale.
In many jurisdictions the power of eminent domain is tempered with a right that just compensation be made for the appropriation.
The term expropriation is often seen as synonymous with "eminent domain" and may especially be used with regard to jurisdictions which do not pay compensation for the confiscated property.
The term condemnation can also be used, particularly to describe the legal process whereby real property, generally a building, is deemed legally unfit for habitation due to its physical defects.
The exercise of eminent domain is not limited merely to real property. Governments may also condemn the value in a contract such as a franchise agreement (which is why many franchise agreements will stipulate that in condemnation proceedings, the franchise itself has no value).
In the United States, the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution requires that just compensation be paid when the power of eminent domain is used, and requires that "public use" of the property be demonstrated.
In France, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen similarly mandates just and preliminary compensation before expropriation.
In England and Wales, and other jurisdictions that follow the principles of English Law, the related term compulsory purchase is more commonly used.
