The
legal and commercial importance of the tort of Conversion is difficult
to overstate, and yet there remains a sense that the principles of the
tort are
elusive. Most recently, this was illustrated by the difficulties posed
for the
House of Lords by the Conversion issue in OBG
v Allan [2007] UKHL 21, on which it was closely divided.
Conversion,
as we now recognise it, has a complex pedigree. Showing little
regard for received taxonomies, it has elements which make lawyers
think in
terms of property, despite its eventful descent from actions in
personam.
Conversion is, therefore, something of a hybrid creature, which perhaps
explains the paucity of scholarly analysis of the subject to date,
property
lawyers and tort lawyers each regarding it as the other's concern.
This
book is the first comprehensive appraisal of the modern tort of
Conversion. It offers a coherent and accessible rationalisation of the
subject,
supported by rigorous analysis of all aspects, from title to sue to the
available remedies. The principal thesis of the work is that the
development of
Conversion has somewhat stagnated, and in consequence the tort has so
far been
unable to fulfil either its theoretical or its practical potential as a
legal
device. Whilst this is partly a result of historical factors, it is
also a
consequence of the fact that no systematic examination of the tort in England
appears
ever to have been carried out. The primary objectives of the book,
therefore,
are to provide such an analysis, to present Conversion as a useful and
important tort, well suited to the demands of contemporary law and
commerce,
and to offer a principled framework for its future development.