The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede) (Lab)

My Lords, as we begin, I would like to set out some of the history of property law and how this Bill came into being. It is worth noting at the outset that these proposals are concerned with the law of personal property in England and Wales; that is, anything that is not land or real estate. Specifically, the Bill is designed to respond to the challenge the common law faces in recognising certain digital assets, such as crypto tokens, as property; and to position the UK as the pre-eminent jurisdiction for the transaction of digital assets and the resolution of disputes arising from them. As your Lordships will be aware, certainty around personal property rights is important for a number of reasons, including: in cases where objects of property rights are interfered with or unlawfully taken; in cases of bankruptcy or insolvency; and for the legal rules concerning succession on death. These rights are also important for the proper characterisation of numerous modern and complex legal relationships, including custody relationships, collateral arrangements and structures involving trusts. Traditionally, personal property has been categorised into two types: tangible property that you can hold or otherwise physically possess, known as “things in possession”; and intangible property that can be claimed or enforced only through a court action, such as a debt or contractual right, known as “things in action”. These categories have been recognised in English and Welsh law for centuries, long before digital assets existed. It is not surprising that they do not fit neatly into either category, yet some digital assets have characteristics that mean they should be recognised as property by the common law and treated as such. For example, it has long been held that pure information cannot be the object of property rights because it can be copied exactly without affecting the original version. If one party sends another party a Word document, for example, the original party still has their copy. By contrast, the technology used to create crypto tokens means that they cannot be duplicated or “double spent”. This has been recognised in some recent case law, which found that certain digital assets, specifically crypto assets, can still attract personal property rights even though their unique nature means that they are neither things in action nor things in possession. It is worth noting, however, that these cases are not definitive in that the decisions were not made by a precedent-setting court. This has left some ambiguity, as there is old case law suggesting that something cannot be personal property if it does not fall within either of the two traditional categories. Under the previous Government, in 2020, the Ministry of Justice asked the Law Commission to review the law on crypto tokens and other digital assets, and to consider whether reform was required. In its 2023 report, the Law Commission concluded that certain types of digital assets can attract property rights and recommended legislation to reflect this. This Government agree wholeheartedly with that approach, which is why we have brought forward this Bill. I turn to the details of the Bill, which has only one limited and technical operative clause. It recognises that: “A thing … including a thing that is digital or electronic … is not prevented from” attracting “personal property rights merely because it is neither … a thing in possession, nor … a thing in action”. The Bill simply signals a further category of personal property. What it does not do is state which assets fall within this further category. It also does not provide for the legal consequences of falling into this category. These are matters purposefully left to the common law, which is best placed to respond in a nuanced and flexible way. The Bill does not mean that all digital assets will be recognised as property. There are many kinds of digital assets with different features, including crypto tokens, non-fungible tokens, virtual carbon credits, digital files, and domain names. The well-established common-law tests for personal property will be applied by the courts to each specific digital asset. This means that only things with the necessary characteristics of property will be recognised as attracting property rights. We believe that the Bill has clear benefits for England and Wales as a legal jurisdiction, and the UK as a whole, enabling more efficient dispute resolution, attracting international businesses to use our law, and promoting economic growth. The Bill will: first, encourage the use of English and Welsh law by international businesses by increasing confidence in how our law will treat certain digital assets; secondly, ensure protections for owners of crypto tokens and other assets in the event of unauthorised use or misappropriation; thirdly, decrease litigation costs and court time by giving certainty as to the existence of a further category of personal property; and, lastly, empower the courts with the tools to develop our world-leading common law. Ultimately, the Bill will ensure that our jurisdiction continues to be an attractive place to do business with, and litigate in respect of, crypto tokens and other emerging assets that have the characteristics of property under the common law. The Property (Digital Assets etc) Bill represents a step forward in modernising the law of personal property in England and Wales. By recognising a further category of personal property, it recognises the unique features of digital assets, ensuring that they can be protected and managed effectively under the law. The Bill underscores our commitment to fostering innovation. It supports our efforts to ensure that our jurisdiction remains at the forefront globally, providing a flexible legal framework that can react to the dynamic nature of digital assets and other emerging technologies. I hope the Bill receives strong support and I look forward to noble Lords’ contributions. I beg to move.