In English law, possession is treated not merely as a physical condition protected by ownership, but also as a legal right in itself. The presumption of law is that the person who has de facto possession also has the property, and accordingly such possession is protected, whatever its origin, against all who cannot prove a superior title.
Possession has various meanings in the law:
(1) 鈥淒e facto possession鈥 where possession means effective physical control or occupation, evidenced by an outward occasionally called or detention in contrast to the legal right to possession, and in which case, its determination is one of a matter of fact rather than law;
(2) 鈥淟egal possession鈥 which is a type of possession recognised and protected by the law. The elements normally associated with legal possession are an intention of possessing together with an amount of occupation or control of the entire subject matter such that it is capable and sufficient for practical purposes to exclude strangers from interfering.
Legal possession is ordinarily associated with de facto
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