Property and the Law of Finders

Introduction
1. The Legal Context of Armory
Recovery of Lost Goods at Common Law
Development of Forms of Action at Common Law
Detinue
The Fiction of Finding
Trover and Conversion
Finding as a Justificatory Excuse: 'The Law of Charity'
Larceny by Finding
Armory v Delamirie
2. The Possessor of Land Cases
The Beginning: Right Follows Liability
The Innovation: Right Follows Possession
South Staffordshire Water Co v Sharman
The Distraction: Evolution of the In/On Land Distinction
Parker v British Airways Board
The Mistake: Right Follows Circumstance of Find
The Answer: Evidentiary Concessions to Proof of Possession
3. The Significance of the Facts of Loss
The Relevance of Loss and Mislaying
US State Common Law: Categorisation Designates Right
English Common Law: Classification Influences Liability
The Relevance of Hiding
The Relevance of Abandonment
The Significance of 'Finding'
4. The Obligations of a Finder
Specifically Imposed Obligations
Absence of Direct Authority
Loser of Goods is a Background Consideration
Honesty of Litigants
Uncritical Reliance on Bailment
The Finder as Bailee
Liability Under General Duties
Conversion
Negligence
Unjust Enrichment
Obligations and Policy
5. Possession and the Rights of Finders
Possession as a Source of Property Rights at Common Law
Possession as the Basis of Trover
Possession as the Basis of Ejectment
From Remedy to Right
The Extent of the Finder's Right
The Estoppel Argument
Cases of Divested Rights
The Effect of a Subsequent Conversion
Finders as (Relative) Owners
6. Qualifications on the Acquisition of Right
Dishonesty
Qualifying the Dishonest Finder's Rights
Recognising a Better Right in a Third Party
Trespass to Land
Employment Relationships
Public and Private Locations
A Pervasive Right
7. Defending the Doctrines
Lost Property Regulation in Other Jurisdictions
Understanding English Law: Property, Tort and Crime and the Pursuit of Sensible Policy Aims
Theft and Entailed Behaviour
Evaluating English Law
Epilogue: The Terminology of Possession and Property