This monograph is concerned with two foundational principles of English property law: the principle of relativity of title and the principle that possession is a source of title. It is impossible to understand the relationship between possession and ownership in English law unless one has a sound understanding of these principles. Yet the principles have been interpreted in different ways by judges, practitioners, and academics. The volume seeks to illuminate this area of law by addressing four questions. What is possession? What is the nature of the title acquired through possession? What are the grounds of relativity of title? And, what is the relationship between relativity of title and ownership? Drawing on the analysis of the law concerning relativity of title and the acquisition of proprietary interests through possession, the author also implies that the architecture of land law and the law of personal property have many similarities.

Possession is a foundational concept in property law. Despite its undoubted importance, it is poorly understood and a perennial source of confusion. Indeed, there is a widely held view amongst lawyers that possession is an irredeemably ambiguous and amorphous concept. This book aims to challenge this conventional wisdom and to demonstrate that possession is in fact far simpler than generations of lawyers have been led to believe. In viewing possession as a knotty problem for the philosopher or legal theoretician, scholars are apt to overlook the important truth that possession is a concept that laymen routinely and, for the most part, effortlessly apply as they navigate through the countless property interactions that shape everyday life. The key to understanding the nature and function of possession in the law is to appreciate that the possession 'rule' is, first and foremost, a spontaneously emergent phenomenon. Possession describes those acts that, as a matter of an extra-legal convention, constitute the accepted way in which members of a given population stake their claims to tangible things. Fusing traditional legal analysis with insights from philosophy and economics, An Expressive Theory of Possession applies this central claim to both theoretical and doctrinal problems in property law and, in doing so, provides a coherent explanation of possession and its role in law and life.

Foundations of Private Law is a treatise on the Western law of property, contract, tort and unjust enrichment in both common law systems and civil law systems. The thesis of the book is that underlying these fields of law are common principles, and that these principles can be used to explain the history and development of these areas. These underlying common principles are matters of common sense, which were given their archetypal expression by older jurists who wrote in the Aristotelian tradition. These principles shaped the development of Western law but can resolve legal problems which these older writers did not confront.

The first coherent analysis of the topic of possession from a comparative and historical legal perspective. The volume comprises contributions from some very distinguished scholars from the civilian tradition (Germany, Italy) as well as the common law (England) and mixed legal systems (Quebec, Scotland, South Africa).

The law of personal property covers a very wide spectrum of scenarios and has had little detailed scrutiny of its overarching structure over the years. This is a shame. It is a system and can best be understood as a system. Indeed without understanding it as a system, it becomes much more difficult to understand. This new textbook is intended to provide a comprehensive and yet detailed coverage of the law of personal property in England and Wales. It includes transfer of legal title to chattels, the nemo dat rule, negotiable instruments and assignment of choses in action. It also looks at defective transfers of property and the resulting proprietary claims, including those contingent on tracing, the tort of conversion, bailment and security interests. By bringing together areas often scattered throughout company law, commercial law, trusts and tort textbooks, it enables readers to see common themes and issues and to make otherwise impossible generalisations across different contexts about the nature of the concepts English law applies. Throughout the book, concepts are explained rigorously, with reference to how they are used in commercial practice and everyday life. The book will be of use to students on undergraduate commercial law courses, or related LLM courses, as well as those on integrated property law courses, and particularly specialised personal property modules. It will also be useful to academics and practitioners working in the area.

This book is a systematic analysis of the modern English law of domestic sale of goods, covering in detail the following aspects of sale of goods contracts:* formation and definitions* passing of property and risk* mistake and frustration* contents of the contract and implied terms* delivery and payment* termination for breach* exclusion clauses* remedies and transfer of title.Full treatment is given to proprietary matters and the significant reforms which have taken place in recent years including the Sale and Supply of Goods Act 1994, and the Sale of Goods (Amendment) Act 1995. The general law of contract is dealt with as it affects the special contract of sale, butexport sales materials are treated only to the extent that they illustrate delivery and payment. The paperback edition also includes a new preface designed for the student reader, covering recent developments in the sale of goods. This thorough and comprehensive book will be a valuable resource forstudents of commercial law as well as academics and practitioners working in the area.