SALE IN MARKET OVERT: A LEGAL CONSIDERATION OF EMERGING ISSUES ON STOLEN GOODS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Market overt is an open and public market recognized by law. Where a purchaser buys goods from a seller, is he given adequate legal coverage for the transfer of the property in the goods which are the subject matter of the sale? Is the fact that the said goods were purchased in a place other than a legally recognized open market and the seller is lacking in title of any moment? Commerce as we have and know it has moved beyond regular markets. This work utilized the doctrinal method of research and probed the continued relevance of the market overt rule in its extant form as an exception to the nemo dat quod non habet principle. In a bid to enhance consumers’ and buyers’ interests in commercial transactions, this work explored the market overt rule vis-a-vis modern realities. It suggested that the restrictive toga of market overt be shed and the exception be expanded to cover other business premises and entities.