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Good Faith Intermediation in the Law of Conversion

Tan Yock Lin

(2014) 26 SAcLJ 582

Abstract:
The authorities and textbooks alike support a broad common law proposition to the effect that an innocent “handler” of goods without notice of his consignor’s lack of title is not liable for conversion to the true owner. The authenticity of the proposition is questionable, the principle supposedly underlying it is obscure, and the case law is argued to be best understood and rationalised in terms of a principle of just compensation.