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Dealing With Dirty Deeds: Matching Nemo Dat Preferences With Property Law Pragmatism, Donald J. Kochan
Dealing With Dirty Deeds: Matching Nemo Dat Preferences With Property Law Pragmatism, Donald J. Kochan
Donald J. Kochan
An organizing principle of the rule of law based on individualism and order is expressed by the Latin maxim nemo dat quod non habet – roughly translated to mean that one can only give what they have or one can only transfer what they own. Yet when title disputes arise between two or more purchasers, we have accepted pragmatically that exceptions must be made to nemo dat and that, at times, we may have to, in essence, validate fraud and other dirty deeds. The Article outlines the basic place of the nemo dat principle in our system of law, introduces …