Institute of Fuel v Morley
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | Earl Jowitt,Lord Morton of Henryton,Lord Radcliffe,Lord Tucker,Lord Cohen |
| Judgment Date | 12 December 1955 |
| Judgment citation (vLex) | [1955] UKHL J1212-2 |
| Date | 12 December 1955 |
| Court | House of Lords |
[1955] UKHL J1212-2
House of Lords
Earl Jowitt
Lord Morton of Henryton
Lord Radcliffe
Lord Tucker
Lord Cohen
Upon Report from the Appellate Committee, to whom was referred the Cause Institute of Fuel against Morley (Valuation Officer) and others, that the Committee had heard Counsel, as well on Wednesday the 2d, as on Thursday the 3d, days of November last, upon the Petition and Appeal of The Institute of Fuel, of 18 Devonshire Street, London, W.1, praying. That the matter of the Order set forth in the Schedule thereto, namely, an Order of Her Majesty's Court of Appeal of the 15th of December 1954, might be reviewed before Her Majesty the Queen, in Her Court of Parliament, and that the said Order might be reversed, varied or altered, or that the Petitioner might have such other relief in the premises as to Her Majesty the Queen, in Her Court of Parliament, might seem meet; as also upon the printed Case of Thomas Walter Morley, the Valuation Officer appointed for the Metropolitan Borough of St. Marylebone under the Local Government Act, 1948, and St. Marylebone Metropolitan Borough Council, the Rating Authority for the said Metropolitan Borough, lodged in answer to the said Appeal; and due consideration had this day of what was offered on either side in this Cause:
It is Ordered and Adjudged, by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in the Court of Parliament of Her Majesty the Queen assembled, That the said Order of Her Majesty's Court of Appeal of the 15th day of December 1954, complained of in the said Appeal, be, and the same is hereby, Reversed, and that the Question of Law set forth in paragraph 15 of the Case Stated be answered in the Negative: And it is further Ordered, That the Respondents do pay, or cause to be paid, to the said Appellants the Costs incurred by them in the Court of Appeal, and also the Costs incurred by them in respect of the proceedings before the Lands Tribunal: And it is also further Ordered, That the Respondents do pay, or cause to be paid, to the said Appellants the Costs incurred by them in respect of the said Appeal to this House, the amount of such last-mentioned Costs to be certified by the Clerk of the Parliaments.
My Lords,
I have had an opportunity of reading in print the speech which my noble and learned friend. Lord Morton of Henryton, is about to deliver.
I agree with his conclusion and with his reasoning, and find it unnecessary to add any comments of my own.
My Lords,
the question arising on this appeal, as set out in the Case Stated by the Lands Tribunal, is whether that Tribunal "came to a correct decision in point of law in holding that the Appellant Institute is not a 'society instituted for purposes of science exclusively' within the meaning of section 1 of the Scientific Societies Act, 1843". It is claimed by the Appellant Institute that it is such a society and is therefore exempted by the section from being assessed or rated in respect of an office and premises occupied by it at 18 Devonshire Street. W.l.
The majority of the Court of Appeal (the Master of the Rolls and Lord Justice Birkett, Lord Justice Jenkins dissenting) rejected the Institute's claim and upheld the decision of the Lands Tribunal. Hence this appeal.
Section 1 of the Scientific Societies Act, 1843, so far as relevant provides as follows:—
"No person or persons shall be assessed or rated, or liable to be assessed or rated … to any … local rates … in respect of any land, houses, or buildings, or parts of houses or buildings, belonging to any society instituted for purposes of science, literature or the fine arts exclusively, either as tenant or as owner, and occupied by it for the transaction of its business and for carrying into effect its purposes, provided that such society shall be supported wholly or in part by annual voluntary contributions, and shall not, and by its laws may not, make any dividend, gift, division or bonus in money unto or between any of its members, and provided also that such society shall obtain" a certificate therein mentioned.
It is accepted by the Respondents that the Institute is instituted for purposes of science and that it satisfies all the requirements of the section except the requirement that it shall be instituted for purposes of science exclusively. They contend that, though it is in part instituted for such purposes (namely, for purposes of fuel technology which they concede to be purposes of science within the meaning of the section) the Institute was also instituted in part for other purposes which are not purposes of science.
The Institute was incorporated by Royal Charter on the 12th August, 1946, and I shall refer at once to the portions of the Charter which were discussed at the hearing. The first recital shows that an association or institute incorporated under the Companies Acts, 1908-1917, and known as the Institute of Fuel had petitioned for a Charter of Incorporation, and paragraph 1 provides as follows:—
"The persons now members of the said Association or Institute known as the Institute of Fuel (hereinafter called 'the existing Institute'), and all such persons as may hereafter become members of the Body Corporate hereby constituted … and their Successors, shall for ever hereafter (so long as they shall continue to be such members) be by virtue of these Presents one Body Corporate and Politic by the name of 'The Institute of Fuel'",…
Paragraph 5 provides that the income and property of the Institute shall be applied solely towards the promotion of the objects of the Institute, and forbids the Institute to carry on any trade or business or engage in any transaction with a view to the pecuniary gain or profit of the members thereof.
Paragraph 6, while prohibiting the receipt of any profit by members, provides that "nothing herein contained shall prevent … the giving of privileges to the members of the Institute".
Paragraph 7 is the vital paragraph and is in the following terms:—
"The objects and purposes for which the Institute of Fuel is hereby constituted are:—
( a) To promote, foster, and develop the general advancement of the various branches of Fuel Technology as an end in itself, and as a means of furthering the more scientific and economic utilisation of fuel of all kinds for industrial, commercial, public, agricultural, domestic, transport and/or other purposes, and to promote, assist, finance and support such industrial and scientific research, investigation, and experimental work in the economical treatment and application of fuel as the Institute may consider likely to conduce to those ends, and to the benefit of the community at large.
( b) To hold meetings in London and at established provincial centres for the reading and discussion of papers, to issue regularly a technical journal, to join with other Institutions in promoting objects of mutual interest, and generally to take such a prominent, and active part in the advancement of the knowledge and practice...
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