The Judgment Stress Test · For lawyers · Free
The borrowed bicycle
The decided case
Kiran’s neighbour, Odele, keeps a bicycle in her shed. One morning Kiran, late for work, took the bicycle without asking, meaning to bring it back the next day. He rode it to the station and chained it there.
He collected it the next day and returned it to the shed, undamaged. Odele had refused to lend him the bicycle a week earlier. She complained to the police, and Kiran was charged with theft.
The court acquitted him: he had never meant to keep the bicycle for good.
The rules the court applied
- Rule A. A person commits theft who dishonestly takes property belonging to another, intending to deprive the owner of it permanently.
- Rule B. A person intends to deprive permanently if he means to treat the property as his own to dispose of, regardless of the owner’s rights. A borrowing for so long, and in such circumstances, that it amounts to an outright taking may count.
- Rule C. A taking is not dishonest if the person believes that he has a legal right to take the property, or that the owner would consent if she knew the circumstances.
The decision
Kiran was acquitted: there was no intention to deprive Odele of the bicycle permanently. Kiran meant to return the bicycle the next day and did so, so he lacked the intention in Rule A. A short borrowing is not treated as an outright taking under Rule B. The court did not need to decide whether he was dishonest under Rule C, because the missing intention was enough.
Everything you need is on this page: no outside law, and no tools. All places, cases and people are fictional (the Republic of Eastmark). For each change below, change only that one fact and keep everything else as in the decided case.
Change 1 of 6
Kiran took the bicycle meaning to sell it to a stranger that afternoon and was arrested before he could.
Change 2 of 6
Odele had said nothing about lending the bicycle. Kiran had borrowed it twice before without asking, and she had never objected.
Change 3 of 6
Kiran kept the bicycle for three months, riding it every day, and then returned it undamaged.
Change 4 of 6
The bicycle was green, not blue, and Odele had bought it second-hand rather than new.
Change 5 of 6
Kiran chained the bicycle at a station known for thefts and did not mind whether it was still there when he came back.
Change 6 of 6
Kiran took the bicycle believing that Odele owed him money and that taking it was a fair way to be paid back, though she disputed the debt.
Professional skills training with fictional material. It is not legal advice and is not accredited by any court, regulator or professional body.