We all have heard the maxim, “Finders keepers…”, but how you complete it will depend on whether you are a schoolboy in a school yard or an adult in the real world. The schoolboys will conclude with “Losers weepers.” Well, the rules in the real world are not so simple. Times are hard, we are in a recession, all of that is no longer news. However, it is in such times that the will of people to do good and abide by the rules are truly tested. With news reports of how much cash the EFCC “finds” during its investigations, it is not hard to imagine that some people have hoards of cash and valuables buried in all corners of the earth. If for whatever reason, you set out with your shovel and start digging up earth in search of treasure, whether you will be keeping your find depends on the law as provided for under both statute and Common Law rules.

There is a maxim that says, Cujus est solum ejus est usque ad coelom et ad inferos, whoever owns the soil, it is theirs all the way to Heaven and all the way to hell.Of course, the courts have qualified this maxim so that there are limits to property “ownership”.By statute, all minerals, oils, etc., belong to the state but that is not the kind of find we are talking about here. It is the bag of money, the gold bracelet, in other words, chattels personal.

The starting point in defining the finders rule is the case of Armory v. Delamirie [1722] 1 Stra. 505 where Pratt C.J. ruled, “That the finder of a jewel, though he does not by such finding acquire an absolute property or ownership, yet he has such a property as will enable him to keep it against all but the rightful owner, and consequently may maintain trover.” In that case, a chimney sweep boy found a brooch and took it to a jeweller for sale. For whatever reason, the jeweller refused to pay the boy or return the brooch and he successfully sued the jeweller for the value of the brooch.

So generally, finders can be keepers, after they have made a reasonable effort to find the true owner and are unsuccessful in that search. As with many legal rules, there are exceptions to this general rule. A trespasser on a property who finds something of value in or on the land, cannot claim the item. If the true owner is not found, then the occupier of the property where the item was found will be entitled to keep the item. Trespass is a wrong and the law does not want to reward people for their wrongdoing. There are other qualifications to the general rule depending on whether the item is found “in” or “on” the ground, the kind of property (private or public) on which the item is found, whether the finder finding in the course of his duties, etc.

These qualifications were succinctly set out in the judgment of Donaldson J., in Parker v British Airways Board [1982] QB 1004. In that case, a man had found a bracelet in the executive lounge of British Airways and had handed the bracelet over to an employee of British Airways along with his contact details so that if the true owner of the bracelet was not found, he could be contacted. The true owner was not found and British Airways sold off the bracelet. The finder successfully sued British Airways for the value of the bracelet because, in essence, the courts found that British Airways had not manifested an intention to control items found in the lounge (see number 2 below under Rights and liabilities of an occupier). So here are the rules:

Rights and obligations of the finder

1. The finder of a chattel acquires no rights over it unless (a) it has been abandoned or lost and (b) he takes it into his care and control.

2. The finder of a chattel acquires very limited rights over it if he takes it into his care and control with dishonest intent or in the course of trespassing.

3. Subject to the foregoing and to point 4 below, a finder of a chattel, whilst not acquiring any absolute property or ownership in the chattel, acquires a right to keep it against all but the true owner or those in a position to claim through the true owner or one who can assert a prior right to keep the chattel which was subsisting at the time when the finder took the chattel into his care and control.

4. Unless otherwise agreed, any servant or agent who finds a chattel in the course of his employment or agency and not wholly incidentally or collaterally thereto and who takes it into his care and control does so on behalf of his employer or principal who acquires a finder’s rights to the exclusion of those of the actual finder.

5. A person having a finder’s rights has an obligation to take such measures as in all the circumstances are reasonable to acquaint the true owner of the finding and present whereabouts of the chattel and to care for it meanwhile.

Rights and liabilities of an occupier

1. An occupier of land has rights superior to those of a finder over chattels in or attached to that land and an occupier of a building has similar rights in respect of chattels attached to that building, whether in either case the occupier is aware of the presence of the chattel.

2. An occupier of a building has rights superior to those of a finder over chattels upon or in, but not attached to, that building if, but only if, before the chattel is found, he has manifested an intention to exercise control over the building and the things which may be upon it or in it.

3. An occupier who manifests an intention to exercise control over a building and the things which may be upon or in it so as to acquire rights superior to those of a finder is under an obligation to take such measures as in all the circumstances are reasonable to ensure that lost chattels are found and, upon their being found, whether by him or by a third party, to acquaint the true owner of the finding and to care for the chattels meanwhile. The manifestation of intention may be express or implied from the circumstances including, in particular, the circumstance that the occupier manifestly accepts or is obliged by law to accept liability for chattels lost upon his “premises,” e.g. an innkeeper or carrier’s liability.

4. An “occupier” of a chattel, e.g. a ship, motor car, caravan or aircraft, is to be treated as if he were the occupier of a building for the purposes of the foregoing rules.
In the end the maxim becomes a mouthful: “Finders keepers unless the true owner claims the article or there is someone with a better title.” And finders keepers is not such a simple proposition.

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