3.1 Possession
在英美的财产法上,占有一词有两种不一样的表述:Seisin和Possession.
Seisin是指对不同产的的占有,Possession是对动产的占有,Seisin并不是指单纯的占有,它是和权利有关联的定义,主如果指通过占有获得收益的权利；而Possession则不同,它不表明通过占有而获得收益的权利。占有（Possession）是指在事实上占据或控制财产的一种权利。占有权主要包含以下基本内容:（1）原始占有,A野生动物的占有（Wild
animals）,B优先占有（First possession）,C政府优先占有；（2）发现者占有权（Finder of
lost articles）；（3）时效占有（Adverse possession）；（4）委托占有（Bailment）。
美国财产上法的占有还可以参考不的属性划分为不一样的类型:
实质占有（Actual possession）和推定占有（Constructive1 possession）
一个人占有（Sole possession）和一同占有（Joint possession）
善意占有（Possession Bona Fide）和恶意占有（Possession Mala Fide）
英文注解:
Possession is difficult to define. A person is in possession
of object he physically2 controls （such as an apple held in his
hand）。 But he
may be in possession of objects not in his presence, such as
the chair
in his backyard when he left for work. A person may even be
in
possession of objects in his house, or under the soil of his
house
（i.e. minerals or oil）, of which he is unaware3. Thus, like property,
possession is an elastic4 word； its meaning varies with the context
involved and the purposes in view.
B. Different than ownership: Possession is not
the same as ownership. Ownership is title, and is
usually proved by showing documents signed by the previous
owner of first possessor transferring title to the present titleholder.
Possession is proved by showing physical control and the intent
to
exclude others.
NOTE: Possession is easier to prove than ownership.
EX:A buys a watch from a jeweler, who bought
it from the manufacturer. B steals the watch from A. To recover
the watch, A must prove ownership or prior possession of the
watch. To prove ownership, one must produce the sales slip from
the jeweler or other proof of title, which A has probably lost.
To prove prior possession, though, A has only to prove that
the watch was in A's physical possession before theft.
C. Constructive possession: A person is in constructive
possession when the law treats him as if he is in possession
although, in fact, he is unaware of it. Constructive means in
the eyes of the law. A court can still find the find has
better claim than the private property owner.
EX: In South Staffordshire Water Co. v. Sharman,
P allowed D to
enter his property to clean the pool. D found some rings, and
claimed
he should own them. Ct. ruled that D was allowed on premises
for
the limited purpose of cleaning, under the direction of P, and
that
P is entitled to objects found, even if he is unaware they exist,
since he
is the owner of the property