Legal Case Summary
The Six Carpenters’ Case (1610) 8 Co Rep 146a; 77 ER 695
Trespass to land – Trespass ab initio – Non-payment
Facts
Six carpenters (S) entered a tavern and bought and paid for a quart of wine. They then requested and received another quart of wine and some bread, but refused to pay for them. John Vaux (J) brought an action of trespass against Thomas Newman and the five other carpenters.
Issue
The issue in question in the present case was whether the non-payment by S made the entry into the tavern tortious and therefore trespass.
Decision/Outcome
The carpenters did not become trespassers ab initio merely by refusing to pay: their entry was lawful, and non-payment was an omission rather than a positive act abusing the authority to enter. The report distinguished abuse of an authority or licence conferred by law, which could make someone a trespasser from the outset, from abuse of permission given by a private person, which did not have that retrospective effect. An omission alone did not make the original entry tortious.
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Later judicial discussion (1967)
In Chic Fashions (West Wales) Ltd v Jones [1967] EWCA Civ 4; [1968] 2 QB 299, the Court of Appeal considered police seizure of goods during execution of a search warrant. Lord Denning MR criticised the old doctrine of relation back and described the law’s development towards greater protection for officers acting reasonably. Diplock LJ left the doctrine’s wider modern application open, and Salmon LJ expressed doubt about retrospectively making a lawful entry wrongful. The court held that, on the facts, the officer could seize goods not specified in the warrant which he reasonably believed were stolen and material evidence of a criminal offence. It did not decide that every seizure of goods thought to be stolen was lawful.
Sources: The Six Carpenters’ Case, 77 ER 695; Chic Fashions, original Court of Appeal judgment.
