Conversion in United Kingdom

Definition of Conversion

In accordance with the work A Dictionary of Law, this is a description of Conversion :

1. (in tort) The tort of wrongfully dealing with a person’s goods in a way that constitutes a denial of the owner’s rights or an assertion of rights inconsistent with the owner’s. Wrongfully taking possession of goods, disposing of them, destroying them, or refusing to give them back are acts of conversio Mere negligence in allowing goods to be lost or destroyed was not conversion at common law, but is a ground of liability under the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977. The claimant in conversion must prove that he had ownership, possession, or the right to immediate possession of the goods at the time of the defendant’s wrongful act (See also jus tertii). Subject to some exceptions, it is no defence that the defendant acted innocently.

2. (in equity) The changing (either actually or fictionally) of one kind of property into another. For example, if land is sold the interest of those entitled to the property changes from an interest in the land to an interest in the money that represents it. Before 1926 (and to a lesser extent thereafter) it was important to know whether a person entitled to property had interests in land or in the proceeds of its sale: to leave the determination of these rights to be decided by the precise moment of a sale could have led to uncertainty and injustice. The doctrine of conversion stated that if there was a duty to convert the property, equity would assume the property to have been converted forthwith: “equity looks on that as done which ought to have been done” (See maxims of equity). This doctrine was abolished with effect from 1 January 1997 by the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996.

Conversion and Medieval Law

Conversion and Legal History

Resources

See Also

• Deceit (in this legal Encyclopedia)
• Feudalism (in this legal Encyclopedia)
• Law Merchant (in this legal Encyclopedia)
• Incest (in this legal Encyclopedia)
• Marriage (in this legal Encyclopedia)

Bibliographies of English Law History

• Maxwell, William H. A Legal Bibliography of the British Commonwealth of Nations. Volume 1: English Law to 1800. London: Sweet and Maxwell, 1955-
• Beale, Joseph H. A Bibliography of Early English Law Books. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1926.
• Winfield, Percy H. The Chief Sources of English Legal History. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1925.