Detinue
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Tort law
Part of the common law series
Intentional torts
Assault  · Battery  · False imprisonment
Intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED)
Consent  · Necessity  · Self defense
Property torts
Trespass (to land, to chattels)  · Conversion
Detinue  · Replevin  · Trover
Dignitary torts
Defamation  · Invasion of privacy
False light  · Breach of confidence
Abuse of process
Malicious prosecution
Alienation of affections
Economic torts
Fraud  · Tortious interference
Conspiracy  · Restraint of trade
Nuisance
Public nuisance  · Rylands v. Fletcher
Negligence
Duty of care  · Standard of care
Proximate cause  · Res ipsa loquitur
Calculus of negligence
Rescue doctrine  · Duty to rescue
Specific kinds of negligence
Negligent infliction of emotional distress (NIED)
In employment  · Entrustment
Malpractice (Legal, medical)
Duty to visitors
Trespassers  · Licensees  · Invitees
Attractive nuisance
Strict liability torts
Product liability  · Ultrahazardous activity
Liability, defences, remedies
Comparative and contributory negligence
Last clear chance  · Eggshell skull
Vicarious liability  · Volenti non fit injuria
Ex turpi causa non oritur actio
Neutral reportage  · Damages
Injunction
Common law
Contract law  · Property law
Wills and trusts
Criminal law  · Evidence

In tort law, detinue is an action for the wrongful detention of goods. It is initiated by an individual who claims to have a greater right to their immediate possession than the current possessor. For an action in detinue to succeed, a claimant must first prove that he had better right to possession of the chattel than the defendant and second that the defendant refused to return the chattel once demanded by the claimant.

Detinue allows for a remedy of damages for the value of the chattel, but unlike most other interference torts, detinue also allows for the recovery of the specific chattel being withheld.

History

Historically, detinue came in two forms: "detinue sur bailment" and "detinue sur trover".

In detinue sur bailment, the defendant is in a bailment relationship with the claimant and either refuses to return the chattel or else has negligently or intentionally lost or destroyed it. The onus is on the bailee to prove that the loss of the chattel was not his or her fault.

In detinue sur trover, the defendant can be any individual in possession of the chattel who refuses to return it to the claimant. A defendant could be a finder or a thief or any innocent third party, and the claimant need only have a better right to possession.

England and Wales

In England and Wales, detinue was abolished from 1 January 1978 by the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977. However, the tort of conversion was extended at the same time to cover circumstances that had previously been covered only by detinue.

References

• W.S. Holdsworth, A History of English Law 324-27.

See also

• Conversion (tort)
• Replevin
• Trespass to chattels
• Trover

External links

• Official text of the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977 as amended and in force today within the United Kingdom, from the UK Statute Law Database