3 ms·

Surely stolen goods still belong to the original owner. Why would they need CF to give it back?

• kbenson 11y ago
  While easy to reason about morally and with common sense, the law is a bit more strict in that in defining when something is or is not a possession, and until proven otherwise by a court, if someone claims property is theirs, to remove it without consent is theft. There may be plenty of cases where it's obvious who owns what, but it would be illegal to rectify prior to judgement if the perpetrator continues to claim ownership. For example, a bike with a serial number and documentation. If the thief claims the bike was thrown away, and you claim it was locked up and there were no witnesses, then without CF you might have to wait for a judgement before the bike is removed from the perpetrator and given back to you. With Cf, the police might make a judgement that you deserve the bike until judgement. Of course even this situation is open to abuse and mistakes...