Winkworth v Christie Manson and Woods Ltd
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Winkworth v Christie Manson and Woods Ltd [1980] 1 Ch 496 was a judicial decision of English High Court relating to the proper law to determine whether title passes when stolen goods are sold to another person in a foreign country.[1][2]
Winkworth v Christie Manson and Woods Ltd | |
---|---|
Court | High Court |
Full case name | Winkworth v Christie Manson and Woods Ltd and Another |
Decided | 5 November 1979 |
Citation(s) | [1980] 1 Ch 496 [1980] 1 All ER 1121 |
Court membership | |
Judge(s) sitting | Slade J |
Keywords | |
|
The case related to paintings which were stolen in England, and later sold by the thief to a purchaser in good faith who was unaware that they were stolen in Italy. Slade J held that the rule as to whether or not title to property validly passed was to be determined by the law of the place where the property was located at the time that the transfer purportedly took place. In this case, under Italian law a purchaser in good faith without notice received good title, and accordingly, the rule of Italian law prevailed over the English rule (known as the nemo dat rule) because that was where the paintings were at the relevant time.