Vauxhall Corsa Case Summary

The first issue to be discussed in this scenario is to who has rightful ownership of the Vauxhall Corsa between Christine and Benjamin. Determining ownership of the Corsa is imperative because it establishes who holds legal title and rights over the car. According to the s 18(1) Sales of Goods Act 1979 (SGA), it is stated that ownership deprives where ‘property in the goods passes to the buyer when the contract is made, and it is immaterial whether the time of payment or the time of delivery…be postponed’. From this statute it can be stated that ownership of the car belongs to Benjamin, this is because Aline and Benjamin had an unconditional contract with ascertaining intention as there was an agreement for Benjamin ‘to acquire the single red Corsa’. Furthermore, in accordance to the Nemo dat quod non habet principle which is stated in s 21 of the SGA 1979 Aline had no rights to further sell the car to Christine this is because the nemo dat …show more content…
It is found in s 24 of the SGA 1979 as well as s 8 of the Factors Act 1889 that where a person ‘continues to be in possession of the goods … the delivery or transfer by that person … has the same effect as if the person making the delivery or transfer were expressly authorized by the owner of the goods to make the same’. This insinuates that where a seller still retains possession of sold goods they are still permitted to resell them to another buyer. Furthermore, s 25 of the SGA 1979 provides that where the buyer has bought and taken possession of the goods with consent of the seller then the transfer of the goods to the second buyer, who acts in good faith and without notice of any lien will take title of the goods. In relation, to to the case, this demonstrates that Christine has ownership of the car as the second buyer as she bought the car with good faith and no knowledge that the car already had an