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Proudly sourced and uploaded by [StormRG] Kickass Torrents | TPB | ET | h33t ‘[M] y guiding-star always is, Get hold of portable property.’ (Wemmick, in Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, chapter 24) PREFACE The subject of personal property law, long neglected, has attracted increasing attention in recent years. It is no exaggeration to say that it is claiming its rightful place in the legal literature. Many changes in the law have occurred since the last edition in 2002, so a very substantial measure of updating has been necessary. In addition, extensive additions have been made in the coverage of the book. The introduction to the subject in the opening chap- ter has been significantly enhanced so as to allow a fuller discus- sion of the nature of property. There is more material on money and on body parts as property. The discussion of possession has been expanded, particularly when it comes to constructive pos- session. There is an extended analytical treatment of bailment. Throughout the book there is now a fuller treatment of equity and there is also a fuller discussion of tra cing. New material has been introduced on knowing receipt and dishonest assistance. Greater attention is paid to the disposition of equitable interests and to the equity of rescission. Security interests now receive a fuller treatment. A consequence of the expansion of the book is that the order of the material has been changed in parts and there are now eight chapters instead of seven. Although this fourth edition is some- what longer than the third, the aim of the book, to encompass the vast subject of personal property law in an economical and readable form, has not changed. London 4 January 2015 CONTENTS Preface vii Table of Cases xiii Table of Legislation xxxi 1. Property rights and classes of property 1 Property rights 1 Equity and common law 6 Classes of property 10 Personal property and land 10 Chattels real and personal 12 Things in possession 13 Things in action 14 Movable and immovable property 20 Classification: particular cases 21 2. Interests in chattels and bailment 29 Introduction 29 Possession 32 Relativity of possession 32 The history of a chattel 32 Legal character of possession 33 Constructive possession 35 Indivisibility of possession 37 Control falling short of possession 39 Possession as a protected property interest 41 Ownership 43 General and special property 46 Indivisibility and co-ownership 47 Abandonment 48 Equitable interests in personality 48 Acquisition of possession by finding 53 Treasure trove 58 Bailment 59 Bailment and possession 61 Types of bailment 62 The bailee’s liability 63 Sub-bailment 65 Loans for consumption 68 Hire purchase and related bailments 71 x ContentS Transferring possession 74 Constructive delivery 75 Delivery documents 77 3. The protection of property interests in chattels 79 Introduction 79 Trespass to chattels 80 The mental element 82 Who may sue in trespass? 84 Liability in conversion 86 Definition and intention 87 Asportation as conversion 89 Damage, destruction, and loss 89 Detention 91 Dispositions of chattels 93 Agents and intermediaries 94 Involuntary bailees 98 Misdelivery 99 Chattels 100 Entitlement to sue in conversion 101 Bailment and entitlement to sue 103 Possession and the ius tertii 105 The right to immediate possession 109 Reversionary interests 112 Remedies issues 113 Documentary intangibles 117 Improvements to chattels 118 Contributory negligence 120 Recovery of the chattel 120 Self-help 121 Limitation of actions 122 4. Further property protection and its limits 125 Introduction 125 Tracing at common law 126 Extinction of property rights in chattels 127 Fixtures 127 Attachment, commingling, and alteration 130 Tracing in equity 136 Common law 139 Equity 143 Equitable personal remedies 148 ContentS xi 5. The conveyance 153 Introduction 153 Consensual transfers: sale 153 Definitions in the sale of goods act 155 Passing of property in specific goods 156 Gratuitous consensual transfers 170 6. Transfer of title 195 Introduction 195 Overriding legal property interests 195 Common law exceptions to the rule of nemo dat 198 Special statutory exceptions to the rule of nemo dat 209 Buyer in possession 219 Overriding equitable property interests 224 Conflicting equitable and legal interests 224 7. Transfer of intangible property 229 Introduction 229 Assignment of things (or choses) in action 231 Negotiability 260 8. Security interests in personal property 269 Introduction 269 Possessory security 270 Non-possessory security 281 Index 307 TABLE OF CASES A v National Blood Authority (No. 1) [2001] 3 All ER 289................24 AVX v EGM Soldiers Ltd, The Times, July 7, 1982 ......................99 Agip (Africa) Ltd v Jackson [1991] Ch 547 (CA) .................139, 144, 151 Agnew v Commissioner of Inland Revenue [2001] UKPC 28; [2001] 2 AC 710 ................................287, 288, 292, 293, 295 Agra Bank, Ex p (1868) LR 3 Ch App 555.............................258 Akbar Khan v Attar Singh [1936] 1 All ER 545 (PC) ....................264 Akron Tyre Co v Kittson (1951) 82 CLR 477 ..........................132 Albazero, The [1974] AC 774 (HL) ..................................169 Albemarle Supply Co v Hind [1928] 1 KB 307 (CA) ................273, 275 Aldridge v Johnson (1857) 7 E & B 885 ...............................167 Alexander v Southey (1821) 5 B & Ald 247 .............................92 Aliakmon, The [1986] AC 785 (HL) .................................170 Alicia Hosiery Ltd v Brown Shipley Ltd [1970] 1 QB 195 .................91 Allen v Hounga [2014] UKSC 47; [2004] 1 WLR 1389 ..................184 Aluminium Industrie Vaassen BV v Romalpa Aluminium Ltd [1976] 1 WLR 676 (CA) .....................................156 Anchor Line Ltd, Re [1937] Ch 1 . .156 Ancona v Rogers (1876) 1 Ex D 285 (CA) ..............................37 Anglo-Maltese Dry Dock Co Ltd,