EVOLUTION AND DEGENERATION OF INSTITUTIONS 101 



a member within the first six degrees of 

 lineal descent. 1 



3. The right of allotting to relatives their share 



in the duties of helping widows and paupers 



in their work. The workers in this case 



receive no payment, neither have they any 



right to demand maintenance. 



Still rarer are vestiges of the collective property 



of the pleme. A few portions of land, however, still 



belong to that body, and it is probably a survival of 



this ancient condition of things that foreigners are 



^Article 48 of the Civil Code of 1888, drawn up by Bogisic in 

 all possible accordance with "the excellent customs" of Monte- 

 negro, begins with the statement that "the right of pre-emption, 

 a privilege which has so long been enjoyed by the members of the 

 brastvo, by persons whose lands adjoin, and by the members of the 

 village and pleme, still flourishes, and will probably continue to 

 do so." 



Bogisic adds that, in accordance with this right, "any person 

 desiring to sell his land, or any kind of real estate belonging to 

 him, is constrained, according to the established custom in such 

 cases, to first offer it in legal order to those persons who enjoy the 

 right of pre-emption, in order to give them an opportunity of pur- 

 chasing it at the price at which it is to be offered to the public. 



Article 49, sec. 1, gives a list setting out the order of precedence 

 of those who enjoy the right of pre-emption. 



1. Members of the brastvo within the first six lineal degrees of 



descent. 



2. Persons owning adjoining lands. ) Transference > of recent 



3. The other members of the village. I ^' to neighbours 



4. The other members of the pleme. j J f "f f S ^f 11 ? C n - 



' fined to relatives. 



If none of those entitled to the first offer desire to purchase, the 

 owner may then sell his property to any other Montenegrin. "> , t , 





