''Re London Wine Shippers''
986PCC 121 is an
English trusts law
English trust law concerns the protection of assets, usually when they are held by one party for another's benefit. Trusts were a creation of the English law of property and obligations, and share a subsequent history with countries across the ...
case, concerning the necessity of ascertaining assets subject to a trust. It has been distinguished by ''
Hunter v Moss
''Hunter v Moss'' 994 1 WLR 452 is an English trusts law case from the Court of Appeal concerning the certainty of subject matter necessary to form a trust. Moss promised Hunter 50 shares in his company as part of an employment contract, but fa ...
'', and ''
Re Harvard Securities Ltd
is an English trusts law case, concerning the Three certainties#Certainty of subject matter, certainty of subject matter in a trust.
Facts
The liquidator of Harvard Securities Ltd, a stockbroking company, applied under the Insolvency Act 1986 s ...
'', and may not be consistent with the general policy of insolvency law as seen in ''
Re Lehman Brothers International (Europe)
''Re Lehman Brothers International (Europe)'' 012UKSC 6is an English trusts law and UK insolvency law case, concerning the certainty of subject matter to create a trust.
Facts
Lehman Brothers International (Europe) was the UK subsidiary of Lehm ...
''.
Facts
Unsecured creditors of a
bankrupt wine trading company, London Wine Shippers Ltd, argued that they should be able to claim the bottles of wine they had paid for. The fine wine company had gone into receivership, and the remaining wine stock was a valuable asset. The bottles that the customers had bought had not yet been individually identified. The company had not even promised to provide wine from its current stocks.
Judgment
Oliver J held that even if the company had said the wine was to come from current stocks, the trust would in any event have been uncertain. There could be no award for
specific performance
Specific performance is an equitable remedy in the law of contract, whereby a court issues an order requiring a party to perform a specific act, such as to complete performance of the contract. It is typically available in the sale of land law, ...
because the
Sale of Goods Act
Sale of Goods Acts (with variations) regulate the sale of goods in several legal jurisdictions including Malaysia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the common law provinces of Canada.
The Bill for an Act with this short title will have been kn ...
required similarly that any goods be ascertained. In the course of his judgment, Oliver J said as follows.
[ 986PCC 121]
Any alleged constructive or express trust of 50 bottles because the subject matter of the trust would be uncertain, at least until 50 specific bottles were set aside for the customers.
See also
*
English trust law
Notes
{{reflist, 2
References
*
English trusts case law