NTIn ForceAct
Criminal Code Act 1983
211Person to whom property belongs for this Division
Start here
Get a plain-English read of 211
Turn the raw legal text into a practical explanation grounded in Criminal Code Act 1983.
211 Person to whom property belongs for this Division
(1) For this Division, property belongs to anyone having possession or
control of it, or having any proprietary right or interest in it, other
than an equitable interest arising only from an agreement to
transfer or grant an interest, or from a constructive trust.
(2) If property belongs to 2 or more persons, a reference to the person
to whom property belongs is taken to be a reference to all of them.
(3) Property of a corporation sole belongs to the corporation despite a
vacancy in the corporation.
(4) If property is subject to a trust:
(a) the person to whom the property belongs includes any person
having a right to enforce the trust; and
(b) an intention to defeat the trust is an intention to deprive any
person having that right of the property.
Criminal Code Act 1983 208
(5) If a person (person A) receives property from or on account of
another person (person B) and is under a legal obligation to
person B to retain or deal with it or its proceeds in a particular way,
the property or proceeds belongs (as against person A) to
person B.
(6) If a person (person A) obtains property by another person's
fundamental mistake and is under an obligation to make
restoration, in whole or in part, of the property or its proceeds or its
value:
(a) to the extent of that obligation, the property or proceeds
belongs (as against person A) to the person entitled to
restoration (person B); and
(b) an intention not to make restoration is an intention to deprive
person B of the property or proceeds without the consent of
person B.
(7) For subsection (6):
fundamental mistake, in relation to property, means any of the
(a) a mistake about the identity of the person getting the property;
(b) a mistake about the essential nature of the property;
(c) a mistake about the amount of any money, direct credit into an
account, cheque or other negotiable instrument if the person
getting the property is aware of the mistake at the time of
getting the property.