Professional Bodies in the United Kingdom
| Date | 01 June 1959 |
| Author | Jennifer S. Hines |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.1959.tb01532.x |
| Published date | 01 June 1959 |
Professional Bodies
in
the
United Kingdom
By
MISS
JENNIFER
S.
HINES
Until her tragic death in
a
recent motor accident,
Miss
Hines
was
a
very
gifted Research Oficer
of
the Royal Institute. This article
is
part
of
apaper
she prepared
for
the International Institute
of
Administrative Sciences.
I.
JURIDICIAL FEATURES
Legal Status
ROFESSIONAL bodies in the United Kingdom do not have any common
P
or distinctive legal status. The oldest, such as the Inns of Court and the
Royal College of Physicians, still show traces of their descent from the
mediaeval guilds, whose legal attributes cannot easily be classified under
any modern scheme. The older branch of the legal profession-the
barristers-continues to govern itself through the four Inns of Court and
two joint bodies created by the Inns-the General Council
of
the Bar and
the Council of Legal Education. The Inns of Court remain wholly
exceptional, in that their powers are not limited by any governing instrument
and they are not subject to control by the courts or to supervision by any
organ of the government.
Most modern professional bodies, however, fall into one of four main
juridical categories, though the first three of these are not exclusively
confined to such bodies and have not been devised to meet their special
circumstances
:
This was the form assumed by
the earliest modern professional associations which emerged in the late
eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. They often started as informal
dining clubs for persons with common professional interests, notably
among solicitors-the other branch of the legal profession which in
England
are
quite separate from the barristers organized through the
Inns of Court-and civil engineers. Their legal status, like that of all
other clubs at the time, was governed by a more or less coherent body
of rules evolved
by
the courts as to the rights of individuals to associate
for the promotion of a common purpose. As their activities extended,
their lack of corporate status produced considerable disadvantages,
in so far as they could not sue or be sued nor hold property, except
through trustees
;
their officers might be exposed to personal liability
for their acts
;
and their objects and rules could not be altered without
the concurrence of every member.
(ii)
Bodies incorporated by Royal Charter.
Professional bodies first sought
to obtain the advantages of corporate status by applying for a Royal
Charter of Incorporation. The first professional association to receive a
Charter was the Institution of Civil Engineers (1828), shortly followed by
the Law Society (for solicitors, 1831), the Royal Institute
of
British
Architects (1837), the Pharmaceutical Society (1843) and the Royal
College of Veterinary Surgeons (1844). The grant of a Charter is
a
function of the Royal Prerogative, not limited in any way by Parliament,
165
(i)
Voluntary unincorporated associations.
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