Conceal in United Kingdom

Meaning of Conceal

The following is an old definition of Conceal [1]: To hide, keep from view, cover up, secrete; to prevent discovery of; to withdraw from reach; to withhold information. 1. To hide or secrete a physical object from sight or observation. The act of March 2, 1799, authorizing the seizure of ” concealed ” goods, subject to duty, requires that the goods be secreted – withdrawn from view. It does not apply to a mere removal, though fraudulent. To ” conceal property ” in order to prevent its being taken on process includes not only physical concealment-literal secreting or hiding, but also the doing of any act by which the title of a party is concealed,- his property so covered up that it cannot be reached by process. The provision may apply to realty as well as to personalty. A horse may be “concealed” by destroying the means of identifying him. The word includes all acts which render the discovery or identification of property more difficult. A ” concealed weapon ‘” is a weapon willfully covered or kept from sight. See further Weapon. 2. To shelter from observation; to harbor; to protect. See Harbor, 1. 3. To withdraw to a place where one cannot be found; to abscond, see, in this resource, the term ” Concealment by a debtor to avoid the service of summons “involves an intention to delayer prevent creditors from enforcing their demands in the ordinary legal modes. It may be by the debtor’s secreting himself upon his own premises, or by departing secretly to a more secure place, m or out of the county of his residence. Leaving a place, requesting that false information of the person’s movements be given, is concealment. 4. To contrive to prevent the discovery or disclosure of a fact. When the operation of a statute of limitations is to be suspended it the debtor ” conceals the cause of action,” there must be an arrangement or contrivance of an affirmative character to prevent subsequent discovery. To ” conceal the death of a bastard child ” is a misdemeanor. The time was when the mother had to prove, by at least one witness, that the infant was dead-bom; if she could not she was presumed to be guilty of murder. See Aider and Abetter. The fact that the owner of stolen goods does not know of the theft does notamount to a ” concealment of the larceny ” on the part of the thief, within a provision that where a thief conceals his crime the period of concealment is not to be included within the period of limitation. 5. To neglect or f prbear to disclose information; to withhold intelligence of a fact which in good faith ought to be communicated. In insurance law, concealment is the intentional withholding of any fact material to the risk, which the assured, in honesty and good faith, ought to communicate to the underwriter. . . That is a ” material fact ” the knowledge or ignorance, of which naturally influences the judgment of the underwriter in making the contract, or in estimatihg the degree and character of the risk, or in fixing the rate of the premium. See further Representation, 1 (2). “Fraudulent concealment ” is the suppression of something which a party is bound to disclose. The intention to deceive must clearly appear. The test is, whether one party knowingly suffered the other to deal under a delusion. ” Undue concealment,” which amounts to fraud in the sense of a court of equity, and for which it will grant relief, is the non-disclosure of those facts and circumstances which one party is under some legal or equitable obligation to communicate to the other, and which the latter has a right not merely in foro conscientice, but juris et de jure, to know. Deliberate concealment is equivalent to deliberate falsehood. In making a contract, each party is bound to communicate his knowledge of the material facts, provided he knows that the other party is ignorant of them, and they are not open and naked, or equally within the reach of the party’s observation, and that there is an obligation to communicate truly and fairly, by confidence reposed, or otherwise. See Fraud. Aliud est celare, aliud tacere. It is one thing to conceal, another to be silent. Silence is not concealment- where matters are equally open for the exercise of judgment. See Caveat, Emptor; Silence.

Resources

Notes and References

1. Concept of Conceal provided by the Anderson Dictionary of Law (1889) (Dictionary of Law consisting of Judicial Definitions and Explanations of Words, Phrases and Maxims and an Exposition of the Principles of Law: Comprising a Dictionary and Compendium of American and English Jurisprudence; William C. Anderson; T. H. Flood and Company, Law Publishers, Chicago, United States)