Talk:Lien

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From UK Tax legislation, here is an example of 'Lien':-

6.12 Statutory Maternity Pay (General) Regulations 1986 6.13 Production of Employer's Records

    (3) The production of records in pursuance of this regulation 
    shall be without prejudice to any lien which a third party may 
    have in respect of those records

203.99.45.16 11:49, 17 November 2006 (UTC)== US law, common law or law in general? ==

There appear to be liens in more than just US law, but I don't have enough knowledge of the subject to edit the article. Is there someone who can comment on this? modify 08:32, 17 September 2006 (UTC)

My understanding is that liens are treated differently in the U.S. from in other countries. What in the U.S. is referred to as a 'lien' would probably be referred to as an 'equitable charge' in other countries (in the U.S. they talk about "registering a 'lien'" over a car or a property). In most other common law countries, liens fall into two types: common law liens, which is simply a passive right to retain (but not sell) property as security for a debt, and equitable liens, which are more like the U.S. concept, but much less common (arise in very specific circumstances - unpaid vendor's liens, liens over issued but unpaid shares and maritime liens are the only three I am aware of, although there may be others). I agree that this article could use "internationalising", but I don't think it needs to get split up. Legis 09:51, 18 September 2006 (UTC)

Sorry, just to follow up (I looked up U.S. lien's in Black's law dictionary) I think the biggest difference between liens in the U.S. is that in the U.S. they are non-possessory, ie. you can have a lien over property which remains in the possession of the original owner. In other common law countries, generally, it is crucial for the person taking the lien to have and maintain possession of the subject matter (except for the aforementioned anomalous case of equitable liens). I might try and do a rework of this article just relying on my copy of Black's. If any U.S. lawyers would like to help, I'd be glad of their assistance. Legis 09:56, 18 September 2006 (UTC)

OK, I have tried to "internationalise" it and bulk it up a bit. It could use some love from a US lawyer on the sections relating to US law, but at least it is a start. Legis 12:36, 18 September 2006 (UTC)

Many thanks for the nice work on the article. modify 05:53, 19 September 2006 (UTC)