Possession, ownership and property: corpus and animus, the finder cases, dominium and the theories of property
LUG-102 Jurisprudence — Legal Method, Indian Legal System and Basic Theory of Law, Unit IV: Possession, ownership and property. · LLB · 60 min
The last lecture of Unit IV covers the three concepts that regulate property rights. Possession first: why it is 'nine points of the law', Savigny's corpus and animus and the rival views of Ihering, Holmes, Pollock and Salmond, the kinds of possession (in fact and in law, mediate and immediate, corporeal and incorporeal, concurrent, constructive, adverse), how it is acquired, the four finder cases told as stories (Armory v. Delamirie, Bridges v. Hawkesworth, South Staffordshire Water v. Sharman, Hannah v. Peel) and the Indian provisions that protect possession (s. 6 Specific Relief Act, s. 110 Evidence Act, s. 71 Contract Act, s. 303 BNS, Article 300A). Then ownership (Austin, Salmond, Holland; the incidents; modes of acquisition; the kinds), the contrast of dominium and possessio, and property (meaning, kinds, theories, acquisition). Eight past questions from six papers are answered here.
Objectives
- Define possession (Savigny, Salmond, Pollock, Holmes) and explain the elements corpus and animus with the differences between the jurists.
- Classify possession into its kinds and explain the three modes of acquiring it.
- Tell the four finder cases and state the rule each stands for, then apply them to a new fact situation.
- Explain why possession is 'nine points of the law' with the Indian provisions that protect it.
- Define ownership, list its incidents and kinds, distinguish it from possession, and state the theories of property.
Slides
- Possession: meaning and why it is 'nine points of the law'
- The elements: corpus and animus, and what the jurists disagree about
- Kinds of possession
- Acquisition of possession: taking, delivery, operation of law
- The finder cases I: Armory v. Delamirie and Bridges v. Hawkesworth
- The finder cases II: South Staffordshire Water v. Sharman and Hannah v. Peel, and the modern rule
- Indian provisions that protect possession (the 2023-24 question)
- Ownership: definitions, incidents and modes of acquisition
- Kinds of ownership, and ownership against possession
- Property: meaning, kinds, theories and acquisition
- Answer structures for the possession, ownership and property questions
Loading the lecture…