''Case of Sutton's Hospital'' (1612) 77 Eng Rep 960 is an old

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipres ...

case decided by

Sir Edward Coke ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

. It concerned The Charterhouse, London which was held to be a properly constituted corporation.

Facts

Thomas Sutton Thomas Sutton (1532 – 12 December 1611) was an English civil servant and businessman, born in Knaith, Lincolnshire. He is remembered as the founder of the London Charterhouse and of Charterhouse School. Life Sutton was the son of an official ...

was a coal mine owner and moneylender, as well as the Master of Ordnance for the North of England, a military position. He founded a

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes comp ...

and hospital as a corporation at the London Charterhouse. When he died, he left a large part of his estate to the charity. Sutton's other heirs challenged the bequest by arguing that the charity was improperly constituted. Therefore, they argued, it lacked a legal personality to be the subject of a transfer of property.

Judgment

In a full hearing of the King's Bench it was held that the incorporation was valid, as was the subsequent foundation of the charity and so the transfer of property to it, including the nomination of a master of the charity to receive the donation, was not void. Sir Edward Coke wrote in the report the following.

Citations

The case has been cited in a number of subsequent decisions. Notably, in ''

Hazell v Hammersmith and Fulham LBC O ''Hazell v Hammersmith and Fulham LBC'' 9922 AC 1 is an English administrative law case, which declared that local authorities had no power to engage in interest rate swap agreements because they were beyond the council's borrowing powers, and ...

992 Year 992 ( CMXCII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Worldwide * Winter – A superflare from the sun causes an Aurora Borealis, with visibility as fa ...

2 AC 1,

Lord Templeman Sydney William Templeman, Baron Templeman, MBE, PC (3 March 1920 – 4 June 2014) was a British judge. He served as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary from 1982 to 1995. Early life and career Templeman was born on 3 March 1920, the son of Herbert ...

referred to it, and although he acknowledged it to be good law, he also noted that to modern eyes the language was so impenetrable that most lawyers simply took it on faith that the case stood for the principle for which it is cited. He summarised the ''

ratio decidendi ''Ratio decidendi'' ( Latin plural ''rationes decidendi'') is a Latin phrase meaning "the reason" or "the rationale for the decision". The ''ratio decidendi'' is "the point in a case that determines the judgement" or "the principle that the case ...

'' of the case thus: The case was also cited with approval (but distinguished) in another

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

case, ''

Ashbury Railway Carriage and Iron Co Ltd v Riche ''Ashbury Railway Carriage and Iron Co Ltd v Riche'' (1875) LR 7 HL 653 is a UK company law case, which concerned the objects clause of a company's memorandum of association. Its importance as case law has been diminished as a result of the C ...

'' (1875) LR 7 HL 653.

Notes

References

*{{cite journal , first=D. , last=Wishart , title=A reconfiguration of company law and/or corporate law theory , year=2010 , volume=10 , issue=1 , journal=Journal of Corporate Law Studies , pages=151–178

External links