Recovery of Property Flashcards
Recovery of Property definition
privilege of an owner dispossessed of a chattel to use reasonable force to recover the
chattel immediately after dispossession
Must be right after, no lapse in time
Rules
Fresh pursuit
○ Limited to prompt discovery of the dispossession, and prompt and persistent
efforts to recover chattel
○ Any undue lapse of time during which the pursuit has not been commenced, or
has come to a halt, will mean that the owner is no longer privileged to fight
himself back into possession, but must resort to the law
○ A resort to any force at all will not be justified until a demand has been made for
the return of the property; but this is not required when it reasonable appears that
demand would be useless or dangerous
Shopkeeper’s privilege
○ Reasonable believe that the person took goods
○ Reasonably investigate
○ For a reasonable amount of time
■ Right to temporary detain in the store or on the premises
Recovery of Property public policy
Run risk of being sued by people you confront
Run the risk of letting people steal
Want to save your goods
