Trespass to Land and Interference with Goods
This domain protects possession rather than ownership, and examiners test whether you can identify the correct action for the interference described.
Trespass to land
An unjustified, direct entry onto land in the possession of another. It is actionable per se, without proof of damage. Key points:
- It can be committed by entering, remaining after a licence ends, or placing things on the land.
- Possession, not title, founds the action, so a tenant can sue and even a trespasser may sue a stranger.
- Implied licences exist for the highway, for a doorbell or delivery, and for lawful visits; they can be revoked.
- Continuing trespass gives rise to fresh actions while the intrusion lasts.
- The Six Carpenters Case doctrine of trespass ab initio: a person who enters with authority and then commits a positive wrongful act becomes a trespasser from the outset; a mere omission does not.
- Defences: licence, lawful authority, necessity, and (limited) jus tertii arguments - a defendant generally cannot justify by pointing to a third party's better title.
Interference with goods
- Trespass to goods: direct interference with goods in the claimant's possession, without lawful justification, actionable per se. Mistake is no defence.
- Conversion: dealing with goods in a manner inconsistent with the claimant's title, so serious as to justify treating the defendant as having bought them. It includes taking, selling, destroying, refusing to return in a way that denies title (Kuwait Airways v Iraqi Airways), and receiving goods. Damages are measured by the full value of the goods at the time of conversion, plus consequential loss, not the cost of repair.
- Detinue: wrongful detention of goods after a lawful demand for their return. It requires a demand and a refusal. Detinue survives in Ghana, since the English Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977 has not been reproduced here, so the older action remains available alongside conversion.
Worked example
A garage repairs a car and, when the owner tenders the agreed price, refuses to release it because of an unrelated debt owed by the owner. The owner may sue in detinue (demand made, refusal shown) and in conversion (the refusal amounts to a denial of title). Damages reflect the value of the car and loss of use, not merely the repair cost, and an order for delivery up may be sought.
Traps that cost marks
Saying trespass to land requires damage; confusing conversion with trespass to goods; forgetting the demand in detinue; and suing on ownership when the claimant only has possession, or vice versa.