In an important recent judgment before the Guernsey Royal Court,
Hindle v Kitching (unreported 3 April 2019), this case
establishes that detinue still exists as a cause of action in
Guernsey, and contains a substantial discussion of the governing
law rules applicable to claims in tort – Walkers successfully
secured protection for the Defendant in relation to substantial
improvements that had been made to a classic Jaguar motor car in
his possession.
The Plaintiff claimed for delivery up and damages in relation to
the Jaguar, which he had left at a garage in 2008, after which it
seems it was wrongfully transferred to a car dealer in Essex. It
had subsequently undergone substantial improvements in the hands of
multiple successive 'owners', including the Defendant, an
innocent purchaser, who resides in the UK.
The Court considered the 'double actionability' test
concerning the governing law applicable to claims in tort, and
found that whilst Guernsey law does recognise a flexible exception
to that test, the circumstances of the case did not engage that
exception, and that the applicable law was therefore Guernsey law.
The Court then found – for the first time – that
detinue exists as a cause of action in Guernsey law, and that it
had not been abolished as it has been in England in line with
section 2 of the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977, under
the principles established in Morton v Paint (1996) 21 GLJ
61.
The Defendant had personally spent £3,660.82 on the Jaguar,
but he had bought it from a previous 'owner', Mr Goldie,
who had in turn spent a further £43,325.58 improving the car.
Both the Defendant and Mr Goldie had made these improvements in the
honest belief that they owned the Jaguar. Whilst the Plaintiff
argued that only the lower figure should be granted as an allowance
to the Defendant to secure the return of the Jaguar, the Court held
that the Plaintiff instead must pay the full amount of the
improvements to adequately compensate the Defendant, as he had
effectively purchased Mr Goldie's improvements. To find
otherwise, reasoned the Court, would unjustly enrich the Plaintiff.
The Court also gave the Defendant the option to retain the Jaguar
and instead pay the Plaintiff £20,000, being fair
compensation for what the Plaintiff had lost. The Court also
awarded the Plaintiff a further £100 as nominal damages for
the Defendant's wrongful detention of the Jaguar.
In adopting this approach, the Court demonstrated the various
remedies that may be awarded following a claim in detinue,
maintaining the well-established principle that the remedy must
achieve "a just outcome with the aim of putting the
Plaintiff into the position as if the wrong had not been committed
against him."
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