Call for Evidence

The House of Lords has established a Special Public Bill Committee to consider the Property (Digital Assets etc) Bill [HL]. The Bill seeks to give effect to the recommendation of the Law Commission of England and Wales that there should be:

“…statutory confirmation that a thing will not be deprived of legal status as an object of personal property rights merely by reason of the fact that it is neither a thing in possession nor a thing in action. This recommendation responds to the development of new types of assets such as crypto-tokens which challenge the traditional categories.”[1]

The Bill, as introduced, can be viewed here.

The Committee seeks written evidence in answer to the following questions:

1. Please could you summarise your view on the Bill in fewer than 300 words?
2. Do you think that the Bill, in its current form, is necessary and effective?
3. Would the Bill have any negative or unexpected consequences?
4. How could the Bill be improved? How should it be amended to achieve this?
5. Should the Bill have retroactive effect?
6. What implications could the Bill have for the development of this area of common law, both in England and Wales and in other legal jurisdictions?

Key information

Thank you for considering submitting evidence to the Committee. Please bear the important information in mind before making your submission:

• The deadline to submit evidence is 23:59 on Friday 20 December 2024
• Evidence should be submitted via the portal below.
• Succinct submissions are encouraged.
• It would be helpful if respondents could draft their evidence as responses to the questions above (rather than a single, extended, piece of writing) although it is not necessary to answer every question.
• Submissions should be original and produced for the Committee. Submissions that have been previously published elsewhere will not be accepted as evidence.

Further guidance on submitting evidence can be found on the submission form.

Thank you for assisting the Committee with its scrutiny of the Bill.

[1] Explanatory notes to the Bill, HMG

Guidance for submissions

• Written submissions should be made online using the written submission form available at https://committees.parliament.uk/submission/#/evidence/3480/preamble. Submissions should be made by 23:59 on Friday 20 December 2024.
• If you have difficulty making a submission online or wish to submit evidence in an alternative format please contact the committee staff at hlpropertydigassetsbill@parliament.uk or by telephoning 020 7219 5190.
• Submissions should be original and produced for the Committee. Submissions that have been previously published elsewhere will not be accepted as evidence.
• Short submissions are preferred. A submission longer than six pages should include a summary. Paragraphs should be numbered. Submissions should be in Microsoft Word or another editable format and should comprise a single file. Any annexes or appendices should be included in the same file.
• It would be helpful if respondents could structure their submissions as separate responses to the questions (rather than a single, extended, piece of writing), although it is not necessary to answer every question.
• Evidence that is accepted by the Committee may be published online at any time. If you do not wish your submission to be published, you must explain your reasons. The final decision on whether to publish evidence rests with the Committee. If you wish to include private or confidential information in your submission to the Committee, please contact the Clerk of the Committee to discuss this before making your submission.
• Once evidence is published it becomes subject to parliamentary copyright and is protected by parliamentary privilege. Once you have received acknowledgement that the evidence has been accepted, you may publicise or publish your evidence yourself. In doing so you must indicate that it was prepared for the Committee. You should be aware that your publication or re-publication of your evidence may not be protected by parliamentary privilege. 
• Personal contact details will be removed from evidence before publication but will be retained by the Legislation Office and used for specific purposes relating to the Committee’s work (for example, to seek additional information).
• Persons who submit written evidence, and others, may be invited to give oral evidence. Oral evidence is usually given in public at Westminster and broadcast online; transcripts are also taken and published online. Persons invited to give oral evidence will be notified separately of the procedure to be followed and the topics likely to be discussed. 
• All submissions made through the written submission form will be acknowledged automatically by email.
• You can follow the progress of the inquiry at https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/746/property-digital-assets-etc-bill-hl-special-public-bill-committee/