Non-User
Bouvier's Law Dictionary and Concise Encyclopedia · John Bouvier; revised by Francis Rawle · 1914
Bouvier's Law Dictionary and Concise Encyclopedia
The neglect to make use of a thing. A right which may be acquired by use may be lost by 11011 -user; and an absolute discontinuance of the use for twenty years affords presumption of the extinguishment of the right in favor of some other adverse right; Dyer v. Depui, 5 Whart. (Pa.) 584; Williams v. Nelson, 23 Pick. (Mass.) 141, 34 Am. Dec. 45; but non-user of the franchise of a corporation is held insufficient to constitute a dissolution of the same without a judicial adjudication thereof; Parker v. Hotel Co., 96 Tenn. 252, 34 S. W. 209, 31 I/.
B. A. 700.
See Dissolution; Forfeiture. A right of way, by grant or prescription, is not extinguished by the habitual use by its owner of another way, equally convenient, instead of it, unless there is an intentional abandonment of the former way; Jamaica Pond Aqueduct Corp. v. Chandler, 121 Mass. 3. See Abandonment; Easement. Every public officer is required to use his office for the public good; a non-user of a public office is, therefore, a sufficient cause of forfeiture; 2 Bla. Com. 153; 9 Co. 50. As to repeal of a statute by non-user, see Obsolete.