'vested interest'

Posted by Lewis on November 10, 2006

In Reply to: 'vested interest' posted by Diana Pountain on November 10, 2006

: Where does the phrase 'vested interest' come from?

it is a legal term.

a share of a trust/estate can be contingent and a person only become entitled to it on fulfilling certain conditions. a share is called 'an interest' in law. when the person acquires ownership rights, the interest is said to 'vest' in them.

so it means a right/share of that property or subject matter.

it goes back to a latin maxim called the 'nemo judex' rule. the phrase of legal principle from administrative law is that "nemo judex in sua causa potest" - 'nobody may be a judge in their own case' - and under that rule, a person is not entitled to participate in an executive decision that personally affects them. under law, they are required to declare 'an interest' if a matter arises that personally affects them more than the average person and to withdraw from participating in discussions or a vote.

that is why Parliament keeps a record of Members' Interests - so that what a person may benefit from is publicly known and objections made should they seek to personally benefit from a political decision through participation.

by analogy, it has come to mean something less precise and is used in the sense of 'that person cannot be neutral, he has a vested interest in the outcome' - in other words it is used to say that a person will be personally affected by the outcome.

there is sometimes confusion as to whether it is proper for a group to campaign on an issue to due to the perception of vested interests.

Linked concept include "the gravy train" and "lining one's pockets".