A sect of Christians, the Exclusive Brethren set up one building with a notice declaring that the word of god would be preached on Sundays. This was interpreted as that it was open for public worship and exempt from rating. A second building was erected, but the church’s doctrines had changed to prefer segregation from evil and the world outside. No notice board was placed outside the second building, and the notice board outside the first building was taken down. In the result there was no sign that the public had permission to enter either of them and attend religious worship there. A proposal by the rating authority to alter the valuation list by entering the buildings as rateable was dismissed by the local valuation court.
Held: The authority’s appeal succeeded. Slade LJ said that a meeting of persons which takes place on private premises cannot be said to be ‘public’ within the ordinary meaning of words unless members of the public, or of the particular section of the public most concerned, are given some notice that they will not be treated as trespassers or intruders if they seek to enter the premises and attend the meeting. The forms of notice, he said, could be many and various. In some cases even the exterior appearance of the building might be enough to indicate to members of the public that they will be welcome.
Judges:
Slade LJ
Citations:
[1983] 1 WLR 314
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Gallagher (Valuation Officer) v Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints HL 30-Jul-2008
The House considered whether certain properties of the Church were subject to non-domestic rating. Various buildings were on the land, and the officer denied that some fell within the exemptions, and in particular whether the Temple itself was a . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Rating
Updated: 18 May 2022; Ref: scu.272218
