Define: Interference With Goods

Interference with goods refers to wrongful actions that disrupt or impair the rights of a person or entity in relation to their property or possessions. This concept is primarily governed by the law of torts and contract law, addressing situations where someone unlawfully interferes with another party’s goods, such as by damaging, destroying, or wrongfully withholding them. Interference with goods can occur in various contexts, including landlord-tenant disputes, bailment agreements, commercial transactions, and consumer rights cases. Legal remedies for interference with goods may include damages, specific performance, or injunctions, depending on the circumstances of the case and the applicable laws.

The law of tort, as it relates to wrongful interference with chattels (goods), is extremely complex because it has developed in a piecemeal way over the last 500 years or so. The meanings of the various terms have changed over the years, and the various torts have expanded and contracted. This article attempts to explain the basic meaning of the various torts that are still (notionally) recognised and their historical origins. However, please bear in mind that the true situation is much more complicated and, apart from conversion (see below), this area of law is probably more of interest to historians than lawyers.

Trespass To Goods

In general, any interference with another person’s goods not in the defendant’s possession amounts to trespass on goods. I commit this tort if, for example, I intentionally scratch your car. If I scratch your car unintentionally, you will probably have to sue me for negligence, not trespass, although there is some uncertainty about this; historically, any direct act could be a trespass, whether intentional or inadvertent.

Trover

The defendant commits trover if he finds something lost by another person and keeps it without authorization. Probably trover originally arose as a counterpart to trespass to goods; trover is not a trespass because when I find the lost object, it comes into my possession, and I can’t trespass against myself. Over the years, the tort of trover expanded such that losing and finding were assumed, so it was trover merely to retain someone else’s property. It appears that eventually this variety of trover was subsumed mostly into the tort of conversion; the part that was not subsumed became detinue. See also: treasure trove.

Detinue

Detention is the retention of someone else’s goods without authorization. As the tort of conversion expanded, detinue became less important. Until 1977, detinue was only a separate tort if the goods came into the defendant’s possession with the authority of the claimant (that is, the defendant was the bailee of the claimant) and were subsequently lost or stolen by a third party. This would not have been a conversion, because conversion requires a volitional act on the part of the defendant. The Torts Interference with Goods Act (1977) abolitioned detinue as a separate tort and expanded conversion to encompass it.

Conversion

Conversion is the taking of another person’s goods for one’s own use. If the claimant makes a bailment of the goods to the defendant, no conversion is committed until the goods are returned at the specific request of the claimant. If the goods cannot be returned because the defendant has lost them, this is now also a conversion under the 1977 Act; previously, it would have been detained.

This site contains general legal information but does not constitute professional legal advice for your particular situation. Persuing this glossary does not create an attorney-client or legal adviser relationship. If you have specific questions, please consult a qualified attorney licensed in your jurisdiction.

This glossary post was last updated: 10th April, 2024.