Ms Kureemun 22.10.

08 CHARITABLE TRUST

Law of Trust

EDUCATION (Trust for the advancement of education.) Education is viewed in a very broad sense. It encompasses things like research, publishing of books, even training of teachers and founding of schools. The preamble in the 1601 Act, the words were maintenance of schools of learning, free schools and scholars in universities, for the education and preferment of orphans Note that some trusts may fall under all the headings. For e.g. a trust to train poor priests may fall under a few headings: poverty, education, religion, public benefit. Research A well known company as the Welcome Foundation- It is a charity and research is done in pharmaceutical. The workers are very well paid but indirectly the public bears the burden of tax. This is one of the negative results of charities involved in a very grand scale. Hence a lot of research will fall under the advancement of education. Re Hopkins case Here the purpose was for research into the works of Francis Bacon and whether he might have been the authors of plays ascribed to Shakespeare. There was some doubt in the minds of certain scholars that Shakespeare did not write all his plays and that some of them were inspired by Francis Bacon. It was held that the word education must be used in a wide sense, certainly beyond teaching, and that the requirement is that, in order to be charitable, research must be either of educational value to the researcher or must be so directed as to lead to something which will pass into the store of educational material or so as to improve the sum of communicable knowledge in an area which education may cover Hence the trust was held to be for the advancement of education. Mc Govern v/s Attorney general It was held that the subject matter of the proposed research must be a useful research. The knowledge acquired must be disseminated to others and that there is going to be public benefit. Re Shaw A man from Ireland created a few trusts and one of them was a trust to be applied to a 40 letter British alphabet. Fund was provided for the research. It was held that it was not charitable on the ground that if the object is purely just an increase in knowledge, the element of public benefit would be lacking. As obiter, the trust could have been saved if it was combined with teaching. This case was described as an aberration. Other text books described the judgment as too narrow. Royal Choral Society v/s IRC

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Ms Kureemun 22.10.08

Law of Trust

It was held that a body of persons established for raising the artistic state of the society, then it will be a charitable object. Another trust which George Bernard Shaw provided for in Re Shaw was for the purpose of teaching self-control, oratory deportments and the arts of social contacts. The question which arose was whether this is a valid trust. It was held that it pointed towards arts, artistic pursuits and that it could be held for the advancement of education. There has to be the element of public benefit and it has to be useful. Sometimes the Courts resort to expert opinion. Re Pinion The settlor used to be a collector of old manual things (paintings, china and other objects) All these were put into his studio and created a trust out of all these things and directed his trustees to open a studio as a museum to display its collection. The court called upon expert evidence and it was held that the collection was like a mass of junk. So the trust failed as advancement of education. Re Delius The case of Re Pinion can be compared with the case of Re Delius. When Delius (music composer) died, his wife created a trust to promote the music of Delius. It was decided subjectively that Delius was someone famous, so the trust passed for the advancement of education. Sometimes a trust for sports per se will fail as charity. But if it is combined with education, then it will be upheld for the advancement of education. The Education Act recognized sports as part of education curriculum. Re Nottage The case here was not about education at all. The purpose was to provide for yatch racing. The trust failed. Re Dupre A trust was created to provide a prize for chess competition among young boys of Plymouth. It was held as a trust for the advancement of education. The judge pointed that each case was to be regarded according to the facts. As long as the sport is mixed with young people, school, university, there is no problem. IRC v/s Mc Mullan Mc Mullan created a trust. He was a very bold football fan. The trust was for the association for British football in British schools and universities. The trust was held to be for the advancement of charity and the judge made some very good comments about education not being limited to schools but also to the physical development of children and university students.

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Ms Kureemun 22.10.08 Re Moriette A trust was created to provide a squash course. advancement of education.

Law of Trust

The trust was held to be for the

POLITICS Whenever there is any political element, the trust will fail. It has been possible to masquerade some of these elements in some trusts but these are exceptions. It is not the rule. The reasoning behind this is that (1) if there is a change in the law, will this change be good for the country. (2)Judges are there not to make the law but to interpret law according to the constitution. For e.g. the leading case of Bowman v/s Secular Society, it was held that a trust for the attainment of political objects has always been held invalid not because it is illegal but judges have no means of judging whether a proposed change in the law will or will not be for public benefit. Failures There are trusts which have failed for e.g Mc Govern v/s Attorney General @A trust was created for the release of political prisoners of conscience. The trust failed. Now in Mauritius, if the trust is aimed to promote the fundamental rights and freedom, it is alright. But if it is aimed at changing the law, it will fail. (b)A trust created to alter the age of marriage (Bowman v/s Secular Society) The age of marriage was not fixed. It was held that this would amount to a change in the law and that it would not pass. Other trusts failed as charitable trusts to promote the principles of Labour Party or Liberal Party. It the trust is approved, the Labour Party will start getting money which will be used for propaganda and a cost for the public. There is one way of masquarading the elements of political element by education and exceptionally the trust will pass. Re Scowcroff

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Ms Kureemun 22.10.08

Law of Trust

A trust was created for the furtherance of conservative principles and also religious and mental improvements. The judge held that it was a trust for religion. This case has been described as a borderline case. Re Koepplers Will Trust Koeppler was very much involved in international relations. His premises were known as Wilton Park and he used to invite all academics to discuss international matters. He created a trust so that on his death, Wilton Park could be used as a centre for discussing international relations with political themes. The court upheld this as a trust for the advancement of education. In no way did the trust proposed a change in the law and was purely for international debates and for education. Education and public benefit Unlike poverty where no element of public benefit is needed, here there is a need for this element of public benefit. There should be no relationship between the donor and the donee. Oppenheim v/s Tobacco Securities The trust concerned the British American Tobacco. One of the big shareholders of BAT created a trust and settled his shares on trust to found scholarships for the children of the employees of BAT. BAT had a lot of employees amounting to 110,000 worldwide. There was no element of public benefit here because there was a relationship between the donor and the donee. The case had been criticized. One of the judged dissented that the 110,000 employees over the world would constitute some kind of public benefit. But the other judges said that the relationship between the employer and the employee existed. IRS v/s Educational Grants Association The case concerned the Metal Box Co which established and funded a trust to provide grants to individuals attending schools and universities. There was a condition that up to 85% of the grants were to be given to the children of its employees since 15% of the grants were for the public at large. Lord Denning criticized the case. He felt bound by it and held that it was not charitable. Re Koettgens Will Trust The trust provided grants and 75% of the annual income was given to a preferred class (children of employees and so on) 25% of the grants were given to the public at large. This was upheld for the advancement of education but it had been criticized in a case of Sri Lanka- Caffour v/s IRC where the settlor created a trust for education, institution and training in England of deserving Islamic Youth. But preference was then given to the male descendants of the settlor. It was held that it did not satisfy the element of public benefit and it failed as a charity.

RELIGION

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Ms Kureemun 22.10.08

Law of Trust

The conservative view taken by the courts was in the case of Bowman v/s Secular Society that all the monotheistic beliefs would be classified as religion. This was a narrow definition and later on more has been added to it. Religion does not mean the same thing as ethics. Religion means belief in a higher being (the Creator) combined with worship. If you do not believe in a higher being, you believe in ideals such as beauty, fairness and happiness. Re South Place Ethical Society Now it is accepted that a number of practices will fall under the heading of religion.e.g bahai, buddism etc. In Canada, certain statutes have specified what religion would be. The problem stays with Christian sects have been afforded the status of charity but some of them are crazy. Thorntone v/s Howe A trust had been created for the publication of the writings of Joanna Southcott who claimed to be with child by the Holy Ghost and so about to give birth to a new Messiah. The trust was held to be charitable. Re Watson A trust had been created for the continuance of the work of God as it has been maintained by H and by myself since 1942. It was held to be charitable where the work consisted mainly in the free distribution of fundamentalist Christian tracts written by H, though the tracts were of no intrinsic merit except in confirming the beliefs of Hs circle. The judge called for expert evidence and found that members were sincere in their beliefs. The trust was held to be for the advancement of religion. A trust for religion may not be only for religion. It may be for satellite purposes for e.g the building of places of prayers, the employment of priests, provision for the accommodation of the priests etc. The element of public benefit is required. Neville estate v/s Madden This is a borderline case. It was a trust for a synagogue but the condition was that it was not open to the public. It was held that there was public benefit since it allowed the Jews to go and pray. Gilmore v/s Coats The income of a trust was to be applied to the purposes of a Carmelite convent, if those purposes were charitable. The convent was comprised of an association of strictly cloistered and purely contemplative nuns who were concerned with prayers and meditation, and who did not engage in any activities for the benefit of people outside the convent. In the view of the Roman Catholic Church, however, their prayers and meditation caused the intervention of God for the benefit of members of the public, and their life inside the convent provided an example of self-denial and concentration on religious matters which was beneficial to the public. All the courts held that the trust was not a charitable one.

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Ms Kureemun 22.10.08

Law of Trust

Re Hetherington There may be a trust for the saying of prayers(dealt under NCPT)which could have been held both privately and publicly. If in public masses, the element of public benefit is present in the trust then it is charitable for the advancement of religion.

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