Chose

A chose is a term from the common law tradition for rights in property, understood as a combined bundle of rights and, more precisely, the enforcement right that a party holds in respect of an object. The word is French for thing and entered English law through the use of French in the courts. English and Commonwealth law sort all personal things into two categories. A chose in action is a bundle of personal rights that can be enforced or claimed only by the chose-holder bringing an action through the court, and in English law this category is enormously wide. A chose in possession is a bundle of rights that can be enforced or acquired by taking physical possession of the object. Both represent separate proprietary interests and differ in the method of enforcement, which depends on the possessory nature of the object concerned. Historical uses include the chose local, a thing annexed to a place such as a mill, and the chose transitory, something movable that can be carried from place to place.