Definition
Interference with chattels.
Wrongful interference with possession of goods.
Etymology & Origin
From Old French 'trespas' (overstepping, transgression) from Vulgar Latin 'transpassare' + 'goods' (movable property, possessions, from Old English 'god' — that which one possesses). Trespass to goods is the wrongful overstepping of the boundary of another's possession of movable property. The old common-law writ <em>trespass de bonis asportatis</em> ('trespass for carrying away goods') was the original form of the action.
Full Legal Analysis
Trespass to Goods: The Wrongful Handling of Property
Just as the law protects a person's possession of land from unauthorised entry, it protects a person's possession of movable goods from unauthorised interference. Trespass to goods — sometimes called trespass to chattels — is the tort committed by any direct, intentional interference with goods in the possession of another, without that person's consent and without lawful justification. Taking, moving, damaging, or destroying another's goods may all constitute the wrong.
Possession, Not Ownership, Is the Key
As with trespass to land, the action protects possession rather than absolute title. The person entitled to sue is the one in actual possession of the goods, or with an immediate right to possession, at the time of the interference. A bailee in possession — a carrier, a warehouse keeper, a repairer — may sue a stranger who meddles with the goods, even though the bailee does not own them. The true owner, who is not in possession, may instead sue in conversion. The distinction turns on whether the claimant held possession at the time of the wrong.
Distinguishing Trespass, Conversion, and Detinue
Trespass to goods must be distinguished from its sister torts. Trespass involves a direct, intentional interference short of depriving the possessor of the goods entirely. Conversion is a more serious wrong: it is an intentional dealing with goods in a manner inconsistent with the owner's right, amounting to a denial of that right — for instance, selling or destroying another's property. Detinue is the wrongful detention of goods after the right to possess them has ceased. The three wrongs shade into one another, and the severity of the interference determines which tort has been committed and what measure of damages applies.
“A man's goods are an extension of his will — things he has gathered, made, or bought, and holds by right of possession. To lay hands on them without consent is to touch, indirectly, the person who holds them; the law treats the affront as real and allows the possessor his remedy.”
