Restitution Discussion Group Archives
| Sender: |
Andrew Tettenborn |
| Date: |
Tue, 9 Feb 1999 11:40:42 -0800 |
| Re: |
The Aliakmon |
Re putative thieves
of the steel aboard the Aliakmon: can you, the frustrated buyer, sue them
in restitution?
To take the three questions in turn:
(1) No.
(2) Oddly enough, isn't the answer here that the thief has been enriched,
but at the seller's expense and not mine? That is, that the seller can
sue, but I can't: and if the seller doesn't choose to, then that's fine
for the thief and none of my business.
To expand. If someone steals my goods and sells them I can sue him for
restitution. And he would not (I suspect) be allowed to wriggle off the
hook by saying "Oh well, I admit they were your goods and I shouldn't
have swiped them, but in fact it's no skin off your nose since you had
agreed that someone else would have to pay you for them in any event."
The case has some parallels with the conception of a defence of "passing
on", rightly rejected in English law: a potential restitution plaintiff
who has got reimbursement, or compensation, or some other right from a
third party should be allowed to reap the benefit of it himself rather
than allowing it to exonerate the defendant.
(3) I don't think this arises.
Andrew Tettenborn Bracton Professor of Law University of Exeter Tel:
01392-263189
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