International Public Corporations*
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1943.tb02878.x |
| Published date | 01 December 1943 |
| Date | 01 December 1943 |
INTERNATIONAL
PUBLIC
CORPORATIONS
185
here) “it could
be
effected without the insurance companies fully realising
what was going
on
and adopting the blocking tactics at which they are
so
efficient.”
Like
Mr.
C.
I?.
Harvey, the members of the Sub-committee of the
Haldane Society are ready at the proper time to sacrifice the Law to the
State. They are ready even
ROW
to sacrifice the law and their proper
liberty as lawyers to the policy
of
a
political party.
One must look elsewhere for those who, while not denying the need for
reform in the law and in the arrangements of the legal profession in
still cherish and desire to defend and (to the extent to which
it
may be necessary) to restore the principles and traditions of the Common
Law which constitute not the least part of the spiritual
assets
of the United
Nations; to restore Justice as the binding principle
of
the political com-
munity; and Freedom as a thing due to Everyman
as
a
member of the
community; and an Equal Law
as
the sign and pledge of our human
fellowship.
RICHARD O’SULLIVAN.
INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC CORPORATIONS’
I.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
ON THEIR
SCOPE
AND
FUNCTION
HERE
is
reason to expect a large expansion of international econ-
omic enterprise. Much
of
it forms part of the reconstruction work to
which the governments of the United Nations are pledged.
It
is
clear, therefore, that the ulfimate responsibility for such enterprise will
have to rest with the governments concerned, and not with private business.
Many, though by
no
means all, of these tasks will be suitably undertaken
by independent corporate bodies constituted in the form of commercial
corporations.
many short-termtasks,
and those which, for political or ethical
reasons, must
be
kept out of any organisation in the form of potentially
profit-making concerns, such as immediate food relief in Europe and the
Far East, are likely to
be
undertaken by direct inter-governmental action.
On
the other hand, many essentially non-economic measures, such as
repatriation schemes, international education or broadcasting schemes,
etc., could
be
organised through public corporations, but are likely to
be
left to immediate governmental responsibility and co-operation.
There remain, however,
a
large number of essentially economic tasks
which are
:
first,
of
international public importance, and therefore a matter
of
public responsibility
;
second, demand long-term investment of capital,
permanent organisation and staffing
:
third, will have to undertake com-
mercial fanctions, such as banking operations, the erection and servicing
3‘
On
the point of providing legal assistance
to
the poor, one may recall
an
tJ1.i
rule: Brian, C.J.. said that if a Serjeant declines to plead for a
poor
man
when the Court orders him
:
“nous ne lui poyomes faire non-serjeant car il
a
ce
nosme donne par le Roy, mais
nous
poyomes
lui
estrange del barr issint
qu’il
ne
serra resceu de pleader.” Cited Holdsworth.
H.E.L..
ii,
491.
The
lords,
it
seems,
had a similar rule,
ibid,
SS.
ii,
8.
16.
T
This article is based upon a paper read
to
the
Grotius
Society,
in
June,
1943.
MODERN LAW REVIEW
Dec.,
1943
of plant, the acquisition of land, the hiring and employment of labour, the
supply of goods and
services.
This
type
of enterprise demands institutions which have definite
corporate status and which, to
use
the language of President Roosevelt,
in
his
message to Congress
(1933)
recommending the formation
of
the
Tennessee Valley Authority, are “clothed with the power of government,
but
possessed
of the flexibility and initiative of a private enterprise.”
Transferring
this
definition to the international sphere, we might define
the International Public Corporation (I.P.C.) as international corporate
bo&ies established for purposes of international government but consti-
tuted
as
commercial corporations.
Among
the more concrete international projects for which
this
form
is
envisaged are the International Investment Corporation, suggested by
Mr.
Herbert Morrison, the World Investment Bank, suggested by the
United
States, the International Clearing Union and the Stabilkation
Fund outlined by the British Chancellor of the Exchequer and the American
Treasury,
and the
United
Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
(U.N.R.R.A.). Among further likely international enterprises, a Danube
Power Authority, a Balkan Transport Board. a Board for the Restoration
and Development of Livestock, an International Raw Material Pool, spring
to
mind
as
being
of particular importance and urgency.
Since
the last war the public corporation has been developed in many
different countries, living under very different social and economic systems,
as
the
best
way
of
administering public utilities, for the public benefit,
but
in
the
form
of an independent commercial corporation. The greatest
enterprise of this kind
is
probably the Tennessee Valley Authority, one of
the outstanding achievements of the New Deal Administration, the greatest
of a number of similar enterprises in the United States. Great Britain has,
among others, The London Passenger Transport Board, The Overseas
Air
Board, The B.B.C., and the proposed Scottish Hydro-Electric Power
Board. In Germany, the State Railways and the Postal Service have, for
many years, been run as public corporations. The Soviet Union has
constituted a number of State Trusts, organised as independent units with
separate personality, management, budget and responsibility.
It
is
note-
worthy that the public corporation is thus
known
to many different
economic systems, from socialism to controlled capitalism.
The constitution and status
of
these public corporations varies con-
siderably from country to country, and within one country, but certain
common features have emerged, the most important of which may be
summarised as follows-
I.
Autonomy of legal and financial status
2.
Non-political management, though there is no unanimity as to the
status of the personnel, which may or may not be In the position of a Civil
Service.
3.
Long-term financing, by government appropriations, by shares
subscribed by the government or other public authorities, or by debentures
issued to the public, such long-term financing enabling the corporation
to
stand on its
own
feet.
4.
Absence of control by private shareholders, instead
of
which, control
is
exercised partly by government departments (Treasury supervision),
partly by Parliament (periodical appropriations). There is much con-
troversy about the appropriate degree of parliamentary and executive
control over public corporations. While too much interference cramps
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