ABSTRACT
The subject-matter of a contract for the sale of goods is not in law the transfer of possession of goods, but the transfer of property in goods (s. 2. Sale of Goods Act). It follows that if the property has passed to the buyer, he must pay the price if the goods are damaged or destroyed without fault on the part of the seller, even though he has never had possession nor even been entitled to it. 25 This is an exceedingly unsatisfactory rule, since in many cases it is difficult to say when property has passed. A much simpler rule would be to place the risk on the party in possession, so that it passes when possession is transferred from the seller to the buyer:
