Commissioners of Inland Revenue v White and Others and Attorney-General
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 24 March 1980 |
| Date | 24 March 1980 |
| Court | Chancery Division |
HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE (CHANCERY DIVISION)-
Charity-Unincorporated body formed "to promote any charitable purpose which will encourage the exercise and maintain the standards of crafts both ancient and modern, preserve and improve craftsmanship and foster, promote and increase the interest of the public therein"-Whether charitable- Charities Act 1960 (8 and 9 Eliz, c 58) ss 4 and 5(3).
On 1 March 1971 an unincorporated body called the Clerkenwell Green Association for Craftsmen ("the Association") was formed whose principal objects as set out in its constitution were "to promote any charitable purpose which will encourage the exercise and maintain the standards of crafts both ancient and modern, preserve and improve craftsmanship and foster, promote and increase the interest of the public therein". The Commissioners of Inland Revenue, appealing to the High Court by way of originating summons under s 5(3), Charities Act 1960, against the decision of the Charity Commissioners to register the Association as a charity pursuant to s 4 of that Act, contended that (1) although the constitution of the Association showed a clear intention that the principal objects of the Association were exclusively charitable, there was no charitable purpose which would assist their achievement; (2) as a matter of construction the principal objects of the Association were composed of three distinct heads, namely, (i) to encourage the exercise and maintain the standards of crafts both ancient and modern; (ii) to preserve and improve craftmanship; and (iii) to foster, promote and increase the interest of the public in craftsmanship, and unless one or more of those heads was itself a charitable object the Association was not established for charitable purposes; (3) the words "crafts" and "craftsmanship" were so vague that no sufficiently clear meaning could be given to them.
Held, in the Chancery Division, dismissing the appeal, that
(1) as a matter of construction the principal object of the Association was to promote any charitable purpose which would have certain effects, these effects being specified by reference to the three heads referred to above. These did not provide a comprehensive statement of the objects of the Association, but merely limited the ambit of the charitable intention. Provided there was a charitable purpose which satisfied one or more of the three heads the Association was entitled to be registered as a charity;
(2) there were educational purposes which would foster promote and increase the interest of the public in craftsmanship and which were of sufficient value to the public to be charitable;
(3) the words "crafts" and "craftsmanship" were sufficiently certain in their meaning and as a practical matter there was likely to be little difficulty in practice in determining their ambit;
(4) the second of the three heads referred to above-to preserve and improve craftsmanship-was itself a charitable object of general public utility;
(5) the Association was entitled to be registered as a charity.
The facts are stated in the judgment.
The appeal was heard in the Chancery Division before Fox J. on 24 March 1980 when judgment was given against the Crown, with costs.
Fox J.-This is an appeal by the Commissioners of Inland Revenue against a decision of the Charity Commissioners to register as a charity, under the Charities Act 1960, an unincorporated body called the Clerkenwell Green Association for Craftsmen, to which I shall refer as "the Association". On 1 March 1971, the Association adopted a constitution which it subsequently amended. I set out below the material provisions of the amended constitution. Clause 2:
"(a) The Association is established for charitable purposes only. (b) The principal object of the Association is to promote any charitable purpose which will encourage the exercise and maintain the standards of crafts both ancient and modern, preserve and improve craftsmanship and foster, promote and increase the interest of the public therein. (c) In furtherance of its principal objects, but not further or otherwise, the Association shall have as its objects: (i) To promote assist and improve the education of the public in crafts and craftsmanship and the education and training of craft pupils or students and craftsmen. (ii) The dissemination of knowledge and information concerning good workmanship and design in crafts. (iii) The maintenance and improvement of standards or workmanship and design in crafts. (iv) The establishment of or assistance in the establishment of workshops, schools or training centres where all skills of craftsmen may be learned and practised. (v) The establishment of local centres for the furtherance of the Association's activities and objects and to manage and maintain such centres. (vi) The arrangement or provision either on its own account or jointly with others of exhibitions, meetings, lectures and classes. (vii) The promotion, encouragement or the undertaking or organising of research and experimental work. (viii) To affiliate or become affiliated to any charitable body having charitable purposes or a charitable purpose only as its objects or object… (ix) To do such lawful acts or things as are incidental to the attainment of the objects of the Association… "
Clause 18 provides that on a dissolution of the Association any assets remaining after satisfying the proper debts and liabilities shall be applied for charitable purposes as near to those of the Association as possible.
Section 4 of the Charities Act 1960, provides for the maintenance of a register of charities by the Charity Commissioners and for the entry therein (with certain exceptions which are not material to the present case) of every charity. Subject to rectification of the register, an institution when registered as a charity is conclusively presumed to be a charity. Section 5 further provides that any person affected by registration may appeal against the registration on the ground that the institution is not a charity. An appeal in effect suspends the registration until the matter is determined. The Charity Commissioners registered the Association as a charity in 1973. By s 45(1) of the Act of 1960, "charity" means "any institution, corporate or not, which is established for charitable purposes and is subject to the control of the High Court in the exercise of the court's jurisdiction with respect to charities".
The question in the present appeal is whether the Association is established for charitable purposes. In considering that, there are two preliminary matters to which I should refer. First, it seems to me that the matter turns upon the provisions of clause 2(b) of the amended constitution. Thus, I think that the provisions of clause 2(c) add nothing to the scope of 2(b). Clause 2(c) is, in turn, expressed to be "In furtherance of its principal objects, but not further or otherwise…". Accordingly, I think that if the objects in clause 2(b) are charitable, nothing in clause 2(c) will affect that status: equally, if they are not charitable, nothing in clause 2(c) can save them. Secondly, I think that the provisions of clause 2(b) are disjunctive. There are, it seems to me, at any rate three distinct purposes comprised in clause 2(b), namely: (i) to encourage the exercise and maintain the standards of crafts both ancient and modern; (ii) to preserve and improve craftsmanship; and (iii) to foster, promote and increase the interest of the public in craftsmanship. That seems to me to be, grammatically, the structure of the clause. I do not think that the clause contemplates anything so cumbrous as a requirement that all three purposes must be satisfied simultaneously if an activity is to be within the principal objects of the Association. That, I think, is now conceded by the Crown, though as I mention later the originating summons asserts the contrary view.
The constitution shows a very clear intention that the object of the Association is exclusively charitable. That is evident from clause 2(a) and from the statement in 2(b) that "the principal object of the Association is to promote any charitable purpose which…". The charitable intention, clear as it is, is not conclusive in establishing charitable status, however, because clause 2(b) limits the field in which the charitable intention is to be effectuated. If the objects specified in clause 2(b) are of such a nature that there is not charitable purpose which will assist their achievement, then there is no charitable purpose within the specified field and the Association would not be entitled to registration as a charity. In other words, the mere insertion of the word "charitable" in clause 2(b) is not by itself enough to establish that the objects of the Association are charitable.
The Crown goes further. They say that the three heads in clause 2(b) are, in fact, a definition of the principal object of the Association, and that unless one or more of those heads is itself a charitable object the Association is not established for charitable purposes. I do not think that contention is correct. The structure of clause 2(b) is not, in my opinion, at all consistent with it. As a matter of language, it seems to me that clause 2(b)...
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