Why doesn&#39;t London airport&#39;s Lost Baggage policy conflict with Theft by Finding or other UK law? I lost a bag whilst going through security on a recent flight through Heathrow Airport in London, UK. Since getting home I've been online to try and track the item and have discovered that their process, according to their website, is: Register for the online service, Find your item in their database, Submit a claim, Pay a fee to reclaim an item, Pay postage to have it sent to you. I fully accept the paying for the postage to have it sent to me, and to a lesser extent I accept paying a fee for the storage and processing of my item, which takes extra resources (and hence extra costs) on their part. But my query is about the way they have implemented this service charge which I am presuming I have to pay even if I turn up to collect my item in person and don't use their website (I doubt they would accept this). My question also hangs on the assumption that if I do not pay the fee requested to reclaim the item then they will refuse to return the item. My question is, what prevents this policy, of keeping the item until I pay a fee, from conflicting with the UK laws such as Theft By Finding, Criminal Conversion or perhaps (tenuously I feel) Blackmail? It feels to me like this should be breaking a law, perhaps one of the above or perhaps another, as (if my presumptions are correct) they are effectively showing the intention to deprive me permanently of my property. Why isn't this the case?
A charge of Theft by Finding is unlikely to succeed, as by posting details of found property on the website Heathrow Airport have made a good faith attempt to find the owner. There might be some comedy value in suggesting Blackmail, but not much more than that. (You knew that one was tenuous.) There appear to be some grounds for arguing the "control" aspect of Criminal Conversion, and if you were to do that they may release your lost baggage to you in person or to your appointed agent. The problem is what would happen next. Heathrow Airport would have grounds for arguing that they had made a good faith attempt to return your baggage, that you had used their system to determine they had your baggage, but that you had chosen to avoid a nominal charge (less than £20, according to the website) to use that system. This would give them grounds to seek to recover the actual cost of storing, locating the owner, and handing the baggage over to them (likely to be more than £20), plus legal fees for recovery of cost (likely to be a lot more than £20). Their argument would be that they had incurred costs in attempting to return your baggage to you, and that it was your responsibility that you had refused an amount that is likely to be considered a reasonable fee for this activity. Short answer : It looks like there's nothing preventing you from pointing out a potential conflict, and it's a nice question for academic debate. But I wouldn't do it. Edit : If you've used the link to missingx.com from the heathrow.com website, you could also have been deemed to have accepted the charge ("if you want to reclaim your item") at point 4.
My friend should have taken his property with him, but presumably the host can't just keep it, especially after reaching out to them? Correct. However, the host does not have to do anything to facilitate its return i.e. they don’t have to post it to you. So long as they keep it for your friend to collect and don’t appropriate it for their own use, they are not breaking the law. If they do appropriate it, that is called theft or its tort equivalent, conversion. As my contract was with Airbnb and the host works from them, is there any responsibility on their part, e.g. Could I hypothetically open a small claims case against them? Or would any small claims case be directly against the host themselves? This is not true. You and the host each have a contract with Airbnb for the use of the platform. The contract for the accommodation is between you two and doesn’t involve Airbnb at all. In any event, there is no contractural issue here.
england-and-wales Initially, one should comply with the officer's instructions as he has the power under statutory Stop &amp; Search powers to detain someone for the purpose of the search (discussed here). Failure to do so may be an offence. If, subsequently, one considers the search and detention was unlawful, the first port of call is to lodge a complaint with the relevant police force who - depending on the circumstances - may escalate the complaint to the Independent Office for Police Conduct IOPC. You can complain directly to the police/other organisation (see ‘Who can I complain about?’ below for a list of the other organisations) or via the IOPC. If you complain via the IOPC, your complaint will be sent direct to the organisation involved. They will assess your complaint and contact you about how it will be handled. The IOPC will not be involved with this initial assessment of your complaint. If the complaint is found to be valid, then any offence committed by not complying with the office would (in all probability) be overturned on appeal. As well as any compensation awarded by the court, the Chief Constable may consider making an ex gratia payment (mentioned here). Note that there is no obligation to do anything if the interaction falls within the Stop &amp; Account provisions.
I think haveibeenpwned would be legal in the EU because it carries out a task in the public interest (Art. 6(1)(e)), and it shares no more data then necessary, for example you can search for a password, but it would not show you the emailaddress which belongs to that password. It would also be legal for you to hold a copy of a leaked database, but only if you have a legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f)) to have it. Being a security company does not change that, but finding a legitimate interest might be easier. If you have a legitimate interest to hold a copy of a leaked database, it does not mean you can use it in any way you like. For example testing if the password still works, is very likely illegal everywhere in the EU. But I'm not familiar with the UK laws.
Is something considered stolen if it possibly could have been lost? Something is considered stolen if it was stolen. You don't have your passport + Someone entered the room where it was ≠ They stole it Can this be brought to small claims court? What damage did you suffer that could be remedied by a monetary settlement? Sure, the landlord entering your room without your permission is probably unlawful but it's not clear that it did you any damage. No damage; no case. Should the police or some other government agency care? Here is a ranking of government cares: Getting reelected National security Economic Management ... 42,567. Murder ... 421,762. Passport Fraud ... 7,656,232. Passport theft ... 58,432,546. Passports that might have been stolen but probably weren't
This would be an offence under section 5(3)(a) of the Regulation of Railways Act 1889: (3) If any person— (a) Travels or attempts to travel on a railway without having previously paid his fare, and with intent to avoid payment thereof; ... he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine ... The Crown Prosecution Service has a summary of transport offences, which says of the above offence: &quot;Intent to avoid payment&quot; does not require a dishonest intent, just an intent to avoid payment of the sum actually due: Browning v Floyd [1946] 2 All E.R. 367: where a man used the return portion of a non-transferable ticket given to him by his wife who had not used it, he was guilty of the offence and she was guilty of aiding and abetting him. In the case of travelling in first class on a standard ticket, you would be avoiding payment of the &quot;sum actually due&quot;, since a first class ticket is more expensive.
Theft of service In Texas: [t]heft of service charges can also arise if you agree to make payment in exchange for a service, and then refuse to pay for the service once it’s rendered. Texas Penal Code Section 31.04: A person commits theft of service if, with intent to avoid payment for service that the actor knows is provided only for compensation... the actor intentionally or knowingly secures the performance of the service by agreeing to provide compensation and, after the service is rendered, fails to make full payment after receiving notice demanding payment. For purposes of this section, intent to avoid payment is presumed if any of the following occurs...the actor absconded without paying for the service or expressly refused to pay for the service in circumstances where payment is ordinarily made immediately upon rendering of the service, as in hotels, campgrounds, recreational vehicle parks, restaurants, and comparable establishments;... Probable cause Whether you &quot;could get somebody arrested by just saying to the police that they owed me money&quot;, read the various Q&amp;As on this site about the probable cause standard for arrest.
Losing your passport is fine, happens all the time But that’s not what you are talking about, is it? You’re intending to deliberately destroy it. While destroying a passport is not a specific offence under the Act or the Rules, your proposed course of action is still illegal. The passport doesn’t belong to you. It belongs to India and deliberately destroying other people’s stuff is illegal. To get a new passport you would necessarily be lying and giving false information on a passport application is an offence. Of course, one wonders why your family are looking at your passport; just don’t show it to them.