The Nemo Dat Rule and Its Exceptions

501 Words3 Pages
“In the development of our law, two principles have striven for mastery. The first is for the protection of property: no one can give a better title than he himself possesses. The second is for the protection of commercial transactions: the person who takes in good faith and for value without notice should get a better title.” Lord Justice Denning in Bishopsgate Motor Finance Corporation v Transport Brakes (1949) The nemo dat rule embodies the idea that the transferee cannot get a better title to goods than that of his transferor. It thus favours the original owner over the innocent purchaser The nemo dat rule is given statutory effect in section 23(1) of the Sale of Goods Ordinance, which provides that where goods are sold by a person who is not the owner thereof, and who does not sell them under the authority or with the consent of the owner, the buyer acquires no better title to the goods than the seller had. This rationale of this rule is thus to protect ownership rights. However, in order to maintain the balance between the original owner and the innocent purchaser, various exceptions to the nemo dat rule have evolved, as contained in the provisions of the Sale of Goods Ordinance and the Factors Ordinance. Amongst the exceptions contained in the Sale of Goods Ordinance are exceptions relating to estoppel (section 23), sales in a market overt (section 24), sales under a voidable title (section 25) and sales by seller or buyer in possession (section 27). An innocent purchaser, faced with a claim for a return of the goods from the original owner, would attempt to argue that one of these exceptions to the nemo dat rule applied to his situation, enabling him to keep the goods. Of course, the purchaser could also look to the person from whom he bought the goods, on the basis that the seller of goods lacked title to the goods. As against his immediate seller, the
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