The act of giving up a legal right such as a right of ownership (of an asset, property, etc.) The abandoned property is deemed to be nobody’s property (res nullius: an object belonging to nobody), while a person that lays hands on the property (taking possession thereof) will become the holder of a legal title.

A tangible or intangible object is deemed “abandoned” when the existing owner (the owner at the time of abandonment) discards it and takes no specific interest in keeping or using it. The fact of abandonment has to be established to that effect.

In the context of civil litigation, abandonment refers to the relinquishing of a claim, partially or wholly, made in an action or in a cassation or appeal process (last resort stage). This abandonment is based of submitting the so-called notice of discontinuance”.