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Does the despoiler of water have a proprietary right in the Commingled Product? implications for Property Law and Criminal Procedure
Citation
Griggs, L and Henning, T and Prichard, J, Does the despoiler of water have a proprietary right in the Commingled Product? implications for Property Law and Criminal Procedure, Monash University Law Review, 38, (3) pp. 35-54. ISSN 0311-3140 (2012) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
Copyright 2013 Monash University Law Review
Official URL: http://www.law.monash.edu.au/about-us/publications...
Abstract
This paper considers who owns wastewater. Our view is that the common
law notions of proprietary rights are incapable of providing the nuanced
solution necessary to this question. This solution must encompass the
public interest in maintaining a viable and safe waste disposal system. But
equally the solution must encompass two new uses of wastewater. First, as
water authorities increasingly extract a value from the consumer in respect
of wastewater it has become an economic resource to which each member
of the public is an important contributor. Second, wastewater is emerging
as a potential source of intelligence for criminal investigators. We suggest
that proprietary rights do not provide the solution to the dilemma of the
ownership of wastewater. Further, while relevant, they do not mark out the
boundaries of state obligations or powers in sampling wastewater for the
purpose of criminal investigations. The law in this context is uncertain.
Potentially it provides few protections to citizens' privacy interests. This
places the onus fairly on legislatures to engage with these issues and
construct policies and laws that achieve an appropriate balance between
the interests of law enforcement agents and those of the citizenry.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
---|---|
Research Division: | Law and Legal Studies |
Research Group: | Public law |
Research Field: | Public law not elsewhere classified |
Objective Division: | Law, Politics and Community Services |
Objective Group: | Justice and the law |
Objective Field: | Justice and the law not elsewhere classified |
UTAS Author: | Griggs, L (Mr Lynden Griggs) |
UTAS Author: | Henning, T (Associate Professor Terese Henning) |
UTAS Author: | Prichard, J (Associate Professor Jeremy Prichard) |
ID Code: | 85464 |
Year Published: | 2012 |
Deposited By: | Law |
Deposited On: | 2013-07-09 |
Last Modified: | 2018-03-19 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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