ABSTRACT
Tracing is the process of identifying property against which a claim will be brought; it is then a separate question which remedy will be claimed. If the claimant seeks to trace from that original item of property into its 'clean substitute' then a 'common law tracing' action will be used. In the event that the original property or the substitute property has been mixed with other property then the claimant will only be able to bring an 'equitable tracing' action. We shall see that many of the cases discussed in this chapter involved parties who conducted their activities in other jurisdictions but who relied on English law and the presence of assets in this jurisdiction to begin their tracing action. It is a defence to a tracing action that the defendant was a bona fide purchaser of the property without notice of the claimant's rights.
