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LOST PROPERTY
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LOST See also:PROPERTY . The See also:man who loses an See also:article does not lose his right thereto, and he may recover it from the holder whoever he be, unless his claim be barred by some See also:Statute' of Limitations or See also:special See also:custom, as See also:sale in See also:market overt. The rights and duties of the finder are more complex. If he know or can find out the true owner, and yet convert the article to his own use, he is guilty of See also:theft. But if the true owner cannot be discovered, the finder keeps the property, his See also:title being See also:superior to that of every one except the true owner. But this is only if the find be in public or some public See also:place. Thus if you pick up See also:bank notes in a See also:shop where they have been lost by a stranger, and See also:hand them to the shopkeeper that he may discover and repossess the true owner, and he fail to do so, then you can recover them from him. The owner of private See also:land, however, is entitled to what is found on it. Thus a man sets you to clear out his See also:pond, and you discover a See also:diamond in the mud at the bottom. The See also:law will compel you to hand it over to the owner of the pond. This applies even against the See also:tenant. A See also:gas See also:company were lessees of certain premises; whilst making excavations therein they came upon a prehistoric See also:boat; and they were forced to surrender it to their lessor. An aerolite becomes the property of the owner of the land on which it falls, and not of the See also:person finding or digging it out. The principle of these three last cases is that whatever becomes See also:part of the See also:soil belongs to the proprietor of that soil. Property lost at See also:sea is regulated by different rules. Those who recover abandoned vessels are entitled to See also:salvage. Property absolutely lost upon the high seas would seem to belong to the finder. It has been claimed for the See also:crown, and the See also:American courts have held, that apart from a See also:decree the finder is only entitled to salvage rights, the See also:court retaining the See also:rest, and thus practically taking it for the See also:state on the See also:original owner not being found. The See also:modern See also:English law on the subject of See also:wreck (including everything found on the See also:shore of the sea or tidal See also:river) is contained in the See also:Merchant See also:Shipping See also:Act 1894. The finder must forthwith make known his See also:discovery to the See also:receiver of wreck under a See also:penalty. He is entitled to a salvage See also:reward, but the property belongs to the crown or its grantee unless the true owner claims within a See also:year. In the See also:United States unclaimed wreck after a year generally becomes the property of the state. In See also:Scotland the right to lost property is theoretically in the crown, but the finder would not in practice be interfered with except under the provisions of the See also:Burgh See also:Police (Scotland) Act 1892. See also:Section 412 requires all persons finding goods to deliver them forthwith to .the police under a penalty. If the true owner is not discovered within six months the magistrates may hand them over to the finder. If the Owner appears he must pay a reasonable reward. Domestic animals, including swans, found straying without an owner may be seized by the crown or See also:lord of the See also:manor, and if not claimed within a year and a See also:day they become the property of the crown or the lord, on the observance of certain formalities. In Scotland they were held to belong to the crown or its donatory, usually the See also:sheriff of a See also:county. By the Burgh Police Act above quoted See also:provision is made for the sale of lost animals and the disposal of the See also:free proceeds for the purposes of the act unless such be claimed. In the United States there is diversity of law and custom. Apart from special See also:rule, lost animals become the property of the finder, but in many cases the proceeds of their sale are applied to public purposes. When property is lost by See also:carriers, innkeepers or railway companies, special provisions as to their respective responsibilities apply. As to finds of See also:money or the See also:precious metals, see TREASURE TROVE. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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