REVIEWS
| Date | 01 May 1978 |
| Published date | 01 May 1978 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1978.tb00805.x |
REVIEWS
THE
LAW
AND
PRACTICE
RELATING
TO
CHARITIES.
By
HUBERT
PICARDA.
[London: Butterworths.
1977.
xcii
+
765
pp.
(including index).
€45.1
IN
this new book the expr&ed intention
of
the author is to present
a
comprehensive and up-to-date statement
of
the lab and practice in England
and
Wales
relating to charities. Every possible aspect
of
charity law, stated
as
at Maroh
1,
1977, is cover& in depth. In contrast,
Tudor on
Charities
(6th
ed.),
the established practitioners’
book
in this field is now
10
years old and,
so
far
as the reviewer is aware, is out
of
print with no new edition in prospect.
The market
for
Picarda will
be
mainly practitioners, including, the author
hopes, Commonwealth lawyers. Teachers and students
of
charity law will also
find it
a
mowt useful reference work, although the astonishing price may put
it beyond their reach.
The book includes
a
survey
of
the various categories
of
charitable trusts,
their creation and administration,
cy-pr2s
and schemes generally, jurisdicfion
and proceedings, and rating and taxation. Appendices
set
out all the relevant
statutee and statutory instruments, and extracts from the reports and guidance
leaflets
of
the Charity Commissioners, whose decisions receive the appropriate
emphasis in the text. In addition, many Commonwealth and American
cases
are
cited. This can
be
useful, particularly
in
areas where
a
problem
has
not
been satisfactorily solved in English law, for example, the question of law-
changing objectives and participation in political campaigns. At times, however,
the comparative
aspect
adds little. Reasons of
pace
have precluded any
discussion
of
desirable reforms. In addition to topics relating specifically to
charities, the author deals with certain topics relating to trusb generally, but
the basis for his selection is not clear: why deal with secret trusts but not,
for example, incompletely constituted trusts?
The
book
is
approximately the same length
as
Tudor, but covers more ground
because
a
smaller proportion
is
devoted to the setting out
of
statutes and
statutory instruments. The reviewer
feels
that the main advantage
of
Picarda
over Tudbr
is
that it is up to date. All the significant
cases
and statutory
changes
of
the last decade
are
covered. For example, there is
a
useful
discussion
of
the impact on charities
of
recent legislation on race and
sex
diwrimination, with the Race Relations Act 1976 and commentary in
an
appendix.
To take
a
general point, it is
a
pity that
re Denley
is nowhere cited. Although
not a charity case, in upholding certain types
of
private purpose trusts it must
have some bearing on charity law. The knowledge
(before
re Denley)
that
a
purpose trust would fail if not held charitable must have
been
an indirect
influence in many oharity cases. But Mr. Picarda still
refers
(at
p.
208)
to the
“
rule invalidating non-charitable purpose trusts,’’ allowing
as
sole
exceptions
the tombstone and animal
cases.
The treatment of the law of charity
as
such, by which the reviewer means
the classification of charitable objects and the
cy-prh
doctrine, is the most
interesting
part
of the
book,
with the greatest degree
of
analysis and critical
discussion. The author’s criticism
of
the recent
case
of
re
Watson
is
most
convincing. The reviewer does not, however, share the
view
that the dlstinction
between
Murray
v.
Thomas
(trust to erect
a
war memorial
of
a
useful
character: charitable) and
re
Endacott
(gift by testator
“
to erect some useful
memorial to myself
”:
not charitable) is very fine. Incidentally, and not by
way
of
a
serious
criticism, why does Mr. Picarda classify vegetarians, tee-
totallers, pacificists and conscientious objectors
as
cranks, and accordingly not
a
section of the public?
355
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