Chose in action meaning

Main v Spadental Ltd and another [2024] EAT 200 What are the practical implications of this case? The decision will interest practitioners working in insolvency and employment. On the vesting of claims, it confirms the broad scope of section 436 of the Insolvency Act 1986 regarding what counts as property. A chose in action can pass to a trustee in bankruptcy even where, at that point or in those circumstances, the bankrupt is not yet able to enforce it. The EAT also indicated that the nature of the remedy pursued is pivotal in deciding whether a claim is personal or proprietary, and that the legislative policy aims behind the cause of action carry less weight than the character of the remedy itself. Trustees of bankrupt estates will be reassured that employment claims where the cause of action includes at least a failure to pay wages, and where the relief is quantified solely by reference to the worker’s rate of pay, are not treated as ‘personal’ claims of the...

In this issue: Data protection New technologies Internet Telecommunications Advertising, marketing and sponsorship Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Data protection DUA Bill passes through Parliament and heads for royal assent Parliament cleared the Data (Use and Access) Bill (DUA Bill) on 11 June 2025. First tabled in October 2024, this marks the end of a lengthy passage characterised by nine rounds of legislative 'ping pong' between the Lords and the Commons. A focal point was the disputed use of copyright works when training AI systems. In the final debate on 11 June 2025, the House of Lords chose not to press its amendment again, which would have compelled further government legislation addressing copyright infringement and AI transparency. Instead, peers agreed to a Commons amendment in lieu requiring the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology to present a progress statement to...

The exchange informed the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) that holders of the bitcoin-derived token cannot recover substantial compensation because they did not limit their losses by disposing of the asset when Binance and other platforms removed it. Brian Kennelly KC of Blackstone Chambers, for Binance, contended that BSV investors were obliged to sell and move into similar cryptocurrencies once delisted in 2019, and that by failing to do so they added to their own loss. ‘Their loss crystallised when they could reasonably have sold the BSV and re-entered the market; instead, they chose to keep hold of BSV beyond that point,’ he said. ‘The causal chain is severed and, we say, the decision was wholly voluntary and not prompted by the proposed defendants.’ Binance, together with exchanges — Bittylicious, Kraken and Shapeshift — are contesting allegations that, by delisting BSV, they caused about 240,000 UK investors to suffer losses of £9.9bn...

Private Client England & Wales glossary A Abatement When, after settling the deceased’s funeral costs, debts and liabilities, the remaining estate cannot satisfy all legacies in full, the gifts are reduced accordingly, unless the Will shows a different intention. In a solvent estate, the order for reduction appears in Part II of Schedule 1 to the Administration of Estates Act 1925. Refer to Practice Note: Payment of legacies. Accruals basis Where income is taxed on an accruals basis, it is attributed to a given tax year by reference to the number of days within that year during which the activity giving rise to the liability accrued. See Practice Note: What is the basis of income tax?. Accumulation and maintenance (A&M) trust A form of non‑interest in possession trust designed to benefit children and young people up to 25, which received favourable inheritance tax treatment between 1975 and 2006. See Practice Note: Accumulation and maintenance trusts—IHT [Archived]. Accredited Legal Representative (ALR) ...

ARCHIVED : This Practice Note is archived and not updated. It introduces the Bank of England (BoE)’s Climate Biennial Exploratory Scenario (CBES), launched in June 2021, and reviews its design, objectives, scenarios included, and priority themes. It also references the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA)’s Climate Change Adaptation Report 2021, issued in October 2021, and BoE’s publication on climate-related risks and regulatory capital frameworks, March 2023. Background and introduction The BoE has observed that climate change creates financial risks without precedent, meaning the development of tools to manage and reduce them is similarly novel. Scenario analysis and climate stress testing are central to that toolkit, enabling examination of system-wide impacts and exposures across a variety of plausible climate pathways. Consequently, the BoE chose to deploy its stress testing framework to evaluate how climate-related risks could affect the UK financial system. In June 2021, the BoE released a key elements paper setting out its 2021 Biennial Exploratory Scenario on financial risks arising from climate change (the CBES) for the...

The basic position Beneficiaries of a deceased individual’s estate understandably want confidence that the personal representatives (PRs) are administering matters effectively, and will often hope to receive what is due to them under the Will or intestacy without delay. Executor’s year Section 44 of the Administration of Estates Act 1925 (AEA 1925) affords executors and administrators a full year from the date of death before beneficiaries can demand any distribution. There are occasions when PRs will be unable to distribute for considerably longer than this executor’s year and can legitimately justify postponement. Rights of beneficiaries during the administration While the estate is being administered, title to the deceased’s unadministered assets rests with the PRs for the purposes of administration, without any division between legal and equitable interests. In the meantime, no beneficiary-whether taking under a Will or by intestacy-holds a proprietary interest in any particular asset forming part of the unadministered estate. The beneficiary’s entitlement at this stage is a chose in action, namely the...

The Landlord and Tenant (Covenants) Act 1995 (LTCA 1995) The LTCA 1995 does not extend to “old tenancies”, that is, those granted before 1 January 1996. Consequently, where the sale contract is silent on the matter, the entitlement to pursue the tenant for pre-completion rent arrears in respect of such “old tenancies” automatically passes to the purchaser with the transfer of the reversion (see the Law of Property Act 1925, s 141; Claims to the Possession of Land, paragraph B4.2; and Hill and Redman, Division A, Chapter 4, paragraph 1087). That entitlement is a chose in action, which can be expressly reassigned to the seller...

For guidance on safeguarding confidentiality in the workplace, see Practice Note: Confidential information and trade secrets in employment. For broader support on addressing misconduct, consult the following Practice Notes: Managing conduct Dismissing fairly for conduct reasons Reason for dismissal—conduct Protection from dismissal Under section 152 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULR(C)A 1992), a dismissal will be automatically unfair if the principal reason for ending employment is that the worker: has taken part in, or intended to take part in, the activities of an independent trade union at an appropriate time has used, or intended to use, trade union services at an appropriate time For these purposes, ‘an appropriate time’ is: a time outside the worker’s normal working hours, or a time during working hours when the employer has agreed they may engage in union activities or make use of union services The...