Law of Torts-I (Final Term)

Week 2: Remedies in Torts

Session 2

SPECIFIC RESTITUTION OF PROPERTY:

These are the third form of judicial remedies. These are specific remedies not general remedies.
Through these remedies a plaintiff is entitled to get in return exactly the same thing which
he/she has been deprived of. For example, your handwritten notes, if you have been deprived
of it, you need exactly the same notes not different notes or books on the same topic. Specific
restitution of property demands that an appropriate remedy is the return of the same thing.
There is no other alternative to that. For example, compensation in money will not be an
appropriate remedy to the loss of your wedding photographs.

KINDS OF THE SPECIFIC RESTITUTION OF PROPERTY:

There are many types or kinds of this remedy, however, some of the most important ones are
as under.

1. Replevin: It is a legal action to recover specific goods of which a plaintiff had been
wrongfully dispossessed of.

2. Detinue: It is a legal action to recover specific goods AND damages.

3. Trover: It applies to the lost and found cases of goods. When a plaintiff has lost a cell
phone, for example, and the same thing has been found by a defendant. In law, the
defendant is required to return the cell phone to its real owner. However, the
defendant instead of returning the cell phone convert it to his/her own use. The plaintiff
can bring an action of trover against the defendant.