Question Four (Property)

1. Describe the nature of "possession"

2. Explain the relationship between the doctrines of accession, commingling and specification

3. Problem Question

Shivani is the general manager of BikeCo, a motorcycle manufacturer. She is meeting with Dale, the Chief Executive Officer of HellsWheels, a motorcycle retailer. While driving to a meeting with Dale to discuss some purchase orders, Shivani stops at the petrol station next door to HellsWheels' office to put petrol in the car and to buy some gas for her BBQ at home. As Shivani unlocks the storage container in which the gas is kept, which is beside the door into the

petrol station shop, she notices two motorcycle helmets lying by the logs. Shivani picks up the helmets and mentions this to Richard, the petrol station owner, who tells her that they must have been left there by the motorcyclists who had stopped earlier to buy a coffee and who had helped him to put the gas bottles, which had just been delivered to the petrol station, into the container. Richard asks Shivani to give him the helmets, but Shivani refuses, as they are a very expensive brand, claiming that they are hers because she found them. Shivani arrives at HellsWheels' office for her meeting with Dale. When Dale sees the helmets in Shivani's bag and hears how she obtained them, he tells Shivani that they could have been dropped by accident by two of his staff who were out riding their motorcycles early that morning. As one of those motorcycles actually belonged to HellsWheels, Dale asks Shivani to give him one helmet. Shivani refuses.

Who is likely to have the strongest claim to the motorcycle helmets?