Illustrate with a time-barred debt.

In ordinary speech, "right" is used loosely — a right to an opinion, a right to be respected, a right to a seat in a bus. Jurisprudence gives the word a stricter meaning. A legal right is an interest recognized and protected by a rule of legal justice. It has two essential ingredients: An interest of the right-holder — something of value to them (wealth, liberty, reputation, privacy); Legal protection of that interest — the State, through courts, will enforce it against others. This yields the classic definition: a legal right is a capacity residing in one man of controlling, with the assent and assistance of the State, the actions of others (Holland). The key insight is that a right is not the thing itself — I do not "own" my land in the sense of holding the physical earth in my hand — rather, my right is a relation between me and others, backed by law: others must let me use the land, must not trespass, must not interfere. A legal system can be described as an elaborate machinery for allocating rights to some and duties to others. As Salmond put it, a right and a duty are the two sides of the same legal coin: the right of one person is the duty of another. Understanding rights and…