Vindicatio - The Missing Remedy?

Abstract

This paper was written for a special issue of the Singapore Academy of Law Journal on ‘Remedies’. In this paper, I set out the nature of a vindicatio remedy, and discuss its rarity in common law legal systems. I go on to set out two arguments – a pragmatic argument, and a principled argument – for making such a remedy available in the case where a defendant is in possession of an item of personal property that belongs to the plaintiff, and examine whether either of those arguments can be made out.

Keywords: vindicatio, property, private law, conversion, detinue, strict liability, legal history. common law

JEL Classification: K11, K13, K41