Market overt explained

Market overt or French: marché ouvert (Law French for "open market") is an English legal concept originating in medieval times governing subsequent ownership of stolen goods.^[1] The rule was abolished in England and Wales in 1994 but it is still good law in some common law jurisdictions such as Hong Kong and British Columbia.^[2]

In general, the sale of stolen goods does not convey effective title (see Latin: [[Nemo dat quod non habet]]). However, under Latin: marché ouvert, if goods were openly sold in designated markets between sunrise and sunset, provenance could not be questioned, and effective title of ownership was obtained.^{[3] [4] [5]} The concept originated centuries ago when people did not travel much; if the victim of a theft did not bother to look in his local market on market day—the only place where the goods were likely to be—he was not being suitably diligent.^[6]

Abolition in England and Wales

Short Title:	Sale of Goods (Amendment) Act 1994
Type:	Act
Parliament:	Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long Title:	An Act to abolish the rule of law relating to the sale of goods in market overt.
Year:	1994
Citation:	1994 c. 32
Royal Assent:	3 November 1994
Commencement:	3 January 1995
Status:	current
Original Text:	https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1994/32/contents/enacted
Uk-Leg Title:	Sale of Goods (Amendment) Act 1994

The Sale of Goods (Amendment) Act 1994 (c. 32), whose sole purpose was to abolish market overt and its equivalent in Wales, came into force in January 1995, repealing section 22(1) of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 and section 47 of the Laws in Wales Act 1542.^[7]

One designated market was Bermondsey Market, in South London. In the early 1990s, several portraits by well-known 18th-century portrait painters that had been stolen from Lincoln's Inn each sold for less than £100 from an outside stall.^[8] Since they had been sold in 'market overt', the purchaser could keep them.^{[9] [10]} Estelle Morris, Minister for the Arts stated during the second reading of the Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Bill in July 2003:

External links

• Speech of Lord Renton in Hansard at the second reading of the Sale Of Goods (Amendment) Bill in the House of Lords, 12 January 1994, Hansard vol. 551

Further reading

• Edmund H.. Bennett . High Court of Justice. Queen's Bench Division. Walker v. Matthews . . 30 . 9 . 574–576 . September 1882 . 10.2307/3305040 . 3305040.
• Book: Sale of Goods Act, 1893 . London . . 1893. 0-10-850177-9 . section 22 .
• J. G.. Pease . The Change of the Property in Goods by Sale in Market Overt . Columbia Law Review. 8 . 5 . 375–383 . May 1908 . 10.2307/1110070 . 1110070.
• Sale of Goods. Market Overt. Custom of City of London. Shop. Auction Room. Trover. Demand and Refusal before Writ. . 17 . 12 . 269 . April 1912 . 10.2307/1104530. 1104530 .
• Courtenay . Ilbert . Unification of Commercial Law. . 2 . 1 . 77–80 . 1920.
• John Barker . Waite . Caveat Emptor and the Judicial Process . . 25 . 2. 129–151 . February 1925 . 10.2307/1114303 . 1114303.
• Market Overt: Common Law, What Is . . 27 . 2 . 218 . December 1928. 10.2307/1279299 . 1279299.
• L. C. B. . Gower . Sale of Goods in Market Overt . . 12 . 3 . 371–372. July 1949.
• Phanor J. . Eder . Venezuela. Conditional Sales . . 5 . 1. 119–120 . Winter 1956 . 10.2307/838145 . 838145.
• Daniel E. . Murray . Sale in Market Overt . . 9. 1 . 24–52 . January 1960 . 10.1093/iclqaj/9.1.24.
• W. G.. Belinfante . J. G. van der Burgt . Sale in Market Overt . . 9 . 4 . 676–677 . October 1960 . 10.1093/iclqaj/9.4.676.
• Aubrey L.. Diamond . Law Reform Committee: Twelfth Report on the Transfer of Title to Chattels . . 29 . 4 . 413–419 . July 1966.
• Saul . Levmore . Variety and Uniformity in the Treatment of the Good-Faith Purchaser . . 16 . 1 . 43–65 . January 1987 . 10.1086/467823. 143813108 .
• Graham . Battersby . The Sale of Stolen Goods: A Dilemma for the Law . . 54. 5 . 752–757 . September 1991 . 10.1111/j.1468-2230.1991.tb02669.x.
• Peter . Smith . Valediction to Market Overt . . 41 . 2. 225–249 . April 1997 . 10.2307/845597 . 845597.

Notes and References

1. Web site: 25 June 2000 . Appendix 60: Memorandum submitted by the Council for the Prevention of Art Theft . Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport: Appendices to the Minutes of Evidence. section 3.1 . London . British House of Commons.
2. Web site: Sale of Goods Act. www.bclaws.ca. 2019-05-23.
3. Web site: 'Thieves' charter' nears end of its reign: The law of market overt may. . 23 October 2011.
4. Web site: O'Connell . Anna . October 2005 . The Controversial Rule of Market Overt . . 2007-08-31 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071008095819/http://www.tracemagazine.co.uk/legal/legalarchive.php?id=1 . 2007-10-08 .
5. Lennon . Peter . A safe little earner . . 15 March 2003 . 2007-08-31.
6. Bishopsgate Motor Finance Corpn. v. Tpt. Brakes . 1949 . 1 K.B.. 322.
7. 1994 . act . Sale of Goods (Amendment) Act 1994 . 32.
8. Web site: Gainsborough and Reynolds Paintings Stolen. .
9. Burroughs . Katrina . 30 May 2001 . In the market for a bargain. . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20181006154905/https://www.questia.com/newspaper/1G1-75164720/in-the-market-for-a-bargain . 6 October 2018.
10. 26 August 1993 . Wall Street Journal . . A9.