‘Property’

‘Property’

Property is defined in section 5 of the Theft Ordinance as including money and all other property, real and personal, including things in action and other intangible property.

Property covers:

• Money: coins and banknotes.
• Personal items: phones, bags, jewellery, etc.
• Real property: land and things attached to land.
• Pets and tamed animals (dogs, cats, etc.).
• Things in action / intangible rights – non-physical rights that can be enforced in law
• mushrooms growing wild on any land or flowers, fruit or foliage from a plant growing wild in any land, unless the person picks them for reward or for sale or for other commercial purpose;

Real property including objects attached to the land would also be ‘property’ under the meaning of theft. Sections 5(4) to 5(6) of the Theft Ordinance set out what cannot be stolen, including:

• wild creatures not tamed nor ordinarily kept in captivity, or the carcass or any such creature, unless either it has been reduced into possession by or on behalf of another person, and possession of it has not since been lost or abandoned, or another person is in the course of reducing it into possession. 
• A person cannot steal land except if he is a trustee or a personal representative to sell or dispose of the land belonging to another person, and he deals with it in a way that breaches the confidence placed in him. Alternatively, a person can also ‘steal land’ if he was a tenant of the land under a tenancy (i.e. a renter), and he takes the fixture or structure allowed to be used along with the land. 

‘Things in action’ and other intangible property are property that does not have a physical form and therefore cannot be physically taken, but can be enforced by legal proceedings, such as debts, shares or contractual rights. They might be evidenced in writing, such as a share certificate or a written contract in relation to a right. Even government export quotas can be stolen. 

Money that is deposited in a bank would be credit balance in a bank account, which falls into the category of ‘property’ as the contractual relationship between the bank and the depositor gives the depositor a right to ask for money owed by the bank on demand. It is a ‘thing in action’ (or ‘chose in action’). 

However, confidential information (e.g. stored digitally in a computer) is not regarded as property under the Theft Ordinance and cannot be the subject matter in theft. Instead, the unauthorised access, copying, or misuse of confidential information may constitute other offences, such as dishonest use of a computer or fraud, depending on the circumstances.

Failing to pay for services does not constitute theft, but might fall for ‘making off without payment’ under section 18C of the Theft Ordinance. For example, not paying for a taxi ride or eating at a restaurant and leaving without paying would be covered by section 18C instead of theft. For more details, see our page on ‘making off without payment’.