The Glasgow Magdalene Institution
| Jurisdiction | Scotland |
| Judgment Date | 20 February 1964 |
| Date | 20 February 1964 |
| Docket Number | No. 21. |
| Court | Court of Session (Inner House - First Division) |
1ST DIVISION.
Charity—Institution incorporated by royal charter—Whether competent for Court of Session to exercise cy-près jurisdiction—Nobile Officium.
A charitable institution incorporated by royal charter, finding that fulfilment of its original purposes was no longer practicable, presented a petition to the Court of Session for approval of acy-près scheme. The charter contained provision for the grant of further powers for rendering the original grant more effectual, but there was produced correspondence between the petitioners and the Privy Council Office, indicating that the Privy Council did not propose to make or deal with any modifications on the existing powers of the institution and was content that the matter should be dealt with by the Court of Session.
Held that, while in general the court would not exercise itscy-près jurisdiction in the case of a body incorporated by royal charter, especially where the Crown had reserved right to modify the terms of the charter, nevertheless it was proper to do so in the circumstances, since it appeared that the remedy under the charter was not available to the petitioners; and the proposed schemeapproved.
The Glasgow Magdalene Institution, a charitable body founded in 1859 and incorporated by Crown charter of incorporation in 1866, presented a petition to the nobile officium of the Court of Session for approval of a cy-près scheme.
The original objects of the Institution were to suppress vice and its resorts in the City of Glasgow and to reclaim fallen women. For many years the Institution had carried on a home for girls and a laundry, but these had to be closed, as being no longer suitable, and the premises, plant, equipment and furniture were sold in 1961. Thereafter the directors of the Institution considered the possibility of carrying on the work in smaller premises, but eventually they decided that the funds available were insufficient and that it was no longer practicable to pursue the objects of the Institution effectively. Thecy-près scheme, after making provision for annuities and payments to certain former employees of the Institution and for certain incidental matters, proposed that the balance of the funds should be divided into three equal shares and made over for the use of three charitable organisations in Glasgow engaged in welfare work among women and girls.
No answers having been lodged, the petition was remitted to a reporter...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Prior v Scottish Ministers
...v Scottish Ministers [2019] CSOH 18; 2019 GWD 10–128 Gibson's Trs, Petrs 1933 SC 190; 1933 SLT 166 Glasgow Magdalene Institution, Petrs 1964 SC 227; 1964 SLT 184 Golder v UK (4451/70) [1975] ECHR 1; (1979–80) 1 EHRR 524 H v UK (11559/85) (1985) 45 DR 281 Hansen v Norway (15319/09) [2014] EC......
-
Reclaiming Motions By April Prior, Gordon Burns And Joseph Millbank Against The Scottish Ministers And The Lord Advocate
...of Scotland v Gillies 1987 SLT 54, LJC (Ross), delivering the opinion of the court, at 55 quoting from Glasgow Magdalene Institution Petrs 1964 SC 227, LP (Clyde) at 229). 23 Construction of the statutory provisions [45] The structure of sections 27B to D of the 1988 Act, and the relative R......