A droit is a legal title, claim or due.

Droits of admiralty (English law)

The term is used in English law

English law

English law is the legal system of England and Wales, and is the basis of common law legal systems used in most Commonwealth countries and the United States except Louisiana...

 in the phrase "droits of admiralty". This refers to certain customary rights or perquisites, formerly belonging to the Lord High Admiral

Admiralty

The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...

, but now to the crown, for public purposes and paid into the Exchequer

Exchequer

The Exchequer is a government department of the United Kingdom responsible for the management and collection of taxation and other government revenues. The historical Exchequer developed judicial roles...

. These droits (see also wreck

Wreck

Wreck may refer to:* Wreck, a ceremony of initiation into the 40 et 8 club* Wreck , an American indie rock band* A collision of an automobile, aircraft or other vehicle* Shipwreck, the remains of a ship after a crisis at sea...

) consisted of flotsam, jetsam, ligan - (goods (or wreckage) on the sea bed that is attached to a buoy so that it can be recovered), treasure

Treasure

Treasure is a concentration of riches, often one which is considered lost or forgotten until being rediscovered...

, deodand

Deodand

Deodand is a thing forfeited or given to God, specifically, in law, an object or instrument which becomes forfeit because it has caused a person's death....

, derelict (maritime), within the admiral's jurisdiction; all fines, forfeitures

Forfeiture (law)

Forfeiture is deprivation or destruction of a right in consequence of the non-performance of some obligation or condition. It can be accidental, and therefore is distinguished from waiver; see waiver and forfeiture....

, ransom

Ransom

Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or it can refer to the sum of money involved.In an early German law, a similar concept was called bad influence...

s, recognizanees

Recognizance

In some common law nations, a recognizance is a conditional obligation undertaken by a person before a court. It is an obligation of record, entered into before a court or magistrate duly authorized, whereby the party bound acknowledges that he owes a personal debt to the state...

 and pecuniary punishments; all sturgeon

Sturgeon

Sturgeon is the common name used for some 26 species of fish in the family Acipenseridae, including the genera Acipenser, Huso, Scaphirhynchus and Pseudoscaphirhynchus. The term includes over 20 species commonly referred to as sturgeon and several closely related species that have distinct common...

s, whale

Whale

Whale is the common name for various marine mammals of the order Cetacea. The term whale sometimes refers to all cetaceans, but more often it excludes dolphins and porpoises, which belong to suborder Odontoceti . This suborder also includes the sperm whale, killer whale, pilot whale, and beluga...

s, porpoise

Porpoise

Porpoises are small cetaceans of the family Phocoenidae; they are related to whales and dolphins. They are distinct from dolphins, although the word "porpoise" has been used to refer to any small dolphin, especially by sailors and fishermen...

s, dolphin

Dolphin

Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating...

s, grampuses

Orca

The killer whale , commonly referred to as the orca, and less commonly as the blackfish, is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family. Killer whales are found in all oceans, from the frigid Arctic and Antarctic regions to tropical seas...

 and such large fishes; all ships and goods of the enemy coming into any creek, road or port, by durance or mistake; all ships seized at sea, salvage, etc., with the share of prizes such shares being afterwards called "tenths", in imitation of the French, who gave their admiral a droit de dixième. The droits of admiralty were definitely surrendered for the benefit of the public by Prince George of Denmark

George of Denmark

Prince George of Denmark and Norway, Duke of Cumberland was the husband of Anne, Queen of Great Britain.His marriage to Anne was arranged in the early 1680s with a view to developing an Anglo-Danish alliance to contain Dutch maritime power. As a result, George was unpopular with his Dutch...

, when Lord High Admiral of England in 1702. American law does not recognize any such droits, and the disposition of captured property is regulated by various acts of Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

.

Other legal connexions (French law, etc.)

The term droit is also used in various legal connexions (i.e., French law), such as the droit of angary

Angary

Angary , the name given to the right of a belligerent to seize and apply for the purposes of war any kind of property on belligerent territory, including that...

, the droit d'achat (right of pre-emption) in the case of contraband

Contraband

The word contraband, reported in English since 1529, from Medieval French contrebande "a smuggling," denotes any item which, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold....

, the feudal droit de bris (see wreck), the droit de regale

Droit de régale

Droit de régale, a medieval legal term, originally denoted those rights that belonged exclusively to the king, either as essential to his sovereignty , such as royal authority; or accidental , such as the right of the chase, of fishing, mining, etc...

or ancient royal privilege of claiming the revenues and patronage of a vacant bishopric

Diocese

A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...

, and the feudal droites of seignory

Seignory

In English law, Seignory or seigniory , the lordship remaining to a grantor after the grant of an estate in fee simple....

 generally.

In French, droit can mean the whole body of the Law

Law

Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

, as in the motto "dieu et mon droit

Dieu et mon droit

Dieu et mon droit is the motto of the British Monarch in England. It appears on a scroll beneath the shield of the coat of arms of the United Kingdom...

," which is to say "God and my whole body of Law." Droit d'auteur is a term for French copyright law

French copyright law

The droit d'auteur developed in the 18th century at the same time as copyright developed in the United Kingdom. Based on the "right of the author" instead of on "copyright", its philosophy and terminology are different from those used in copyright law in common law jurisdictions...

.