Hannah v. Peel, 1 K.B. 509, was a 1945

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

legal case A legal case is in a general sense a dispute between opposing parties which may be resolved by a court, or by some equivalent legal process. A legal case is typically based on either civil or criminal law. In most legal cases there are one or mor ...

decided in the

King's Bench Division The King's Bench Division (or Queen's Bench Division when the monarch is female) of the High Court of Justice deals with a wide range of common law cases and has supervisory responsibility over certain lower courts. It hears appeals on point ...

of the High Court. The court held that the owner of the

locus in quo In conflict of laws, the term ''lex loci'' (Latin for "the law of the place") is a shorthand version of the choice of law rules that determine the ''lex causae'' (the laws chosen to decide a case).''Black's Law Dictionary'' abridged Sixth Edition (1 ...

does not have a superior right to possession over the finder of lost property that is unattached to the land.

Facts

The defendant, Major Hugh E. E. Peel, owned Gwernhaylod House, Overton-on-Dee,

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

. He bought it in December 1938, but did not move in, and shortly after the Second World War broke out, it was requisitioned for military use. In August 1940, the plaintiff, Lance-Corporal Duncan Hannah of the Royal Artillery, was staying in the house on army business. During his stay, LCpl Hannah found a brooch on top of a window frame. From its dirty, cobwebby state the brooch seemed to have been there for a long time. LCpl Hannah consulted his commanding officer who advised him to hand it to the police, which Hannah did. Nobody claimed the brooch, and in August 1942, the police returned it to Major Peel. Peel then sold it for £66. LCpl Hannah asked Maj Peel for this money. Peel offered Hannah a reward, but he refused and said he wanted the brooch instead. Maj Peel, because he owned the building in which the brooch was found, claimed it was his. LCpl Hannah brought the case to dispute this.

Judgment

Birkett J found that Hannah's claim to the brooch outweighed Peel's.

References

{{reflist Personal property law 1945 in case law High Court of Justice cases 1945 in British law English property case law