Lien
A right to retain possession of another person's property until a debt owed in connection with it is paid. An unpaid seller of goods, for example, has a lien on the goods for the price while still in possession of them.
Independent editorial summary — not the official statute text. Read the official version on legislation.gov.uk.
The clearest statutory illustration is the unpaid seller's lien under the Sale of Goods Act 1979, which arises automatically without needing to be agreed in the contract: even where ownership of the goods has already passed to the buyer, the unpaid seller 'has by implication of law—' 'a lien on the goods or right to retain them for the price while he is in possession of them'.
The Act sets out exactly when that lien can be exercised: 'the unpaid seller of goods who is in possession of them is entitled to retain possession of them until payment or tender of the price' — where the goods were sold without any credit arrangement, where an agreed credit period has expired, or where the buyer has become insolvent. Crucially, the right does not depend on the seller holding the goods as owner: 'The seller may exercise his lien or right of retention notwithstanding that he is in possession of the goods as agent or bailee or custodier for the buyer', which is what makes a lien a right attached to possession rather than to ownership.
Related terms
Official sources
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