Barnes v Addy

Barnes v Addy
CourtCourt of Appeal in Chancery
Decided12 February 1874
Citation(1870) B 92; (1874) LR 9 Ch App 244
Court membership
Judges sittingLord Selborne LC, Sir W M James LJ, Sir G Mellish LJ
Case opinions
Lord Selborne LC
Keywords
Breach of trust, accessory liability, knowing receipt, knowing assistance

Barnes v Addy (1874) LR 9 Ch App 244 was a decision of the Court of Appeal in Chancery. It established that, in English trusts law, third parties could be liable for a breach of trust in two circumstances, referred to as the two 'limbs' of Barnes v Addy: knowing receipt and knowing assistance.

Although the decision remains historically significant in common law countries, the House of Lords significantly revised the relevant equitable principles in cases such as Royal Brunei Airlines v Tan (1995) and Dubai Aluminium Co Ltd v Salaam (2002).