The Faculty of Procurators in Glasgow, incorporated by Royal Charter in 1796, granted annuities to the widows and children of deceased Members of the Faculty. In 1833 it obtained an Act of Parliament for the better establishing and securing a fund for this purpose, and a society called ‘The Society of Contributors to the Widows’ Fund of the Faculty of Procurators in Glasgow’ was thereby incorporated. In 1875 another Act limited those interested in the ‘Widows’ Fund’ to the then annuitants and the then contributors. A Member of the Faculty, who had joined it and become a contributor to the Widows’ Fund in 1870, was expelled from the Faculty in 1900, having been convicted of embezzlement.
Held (per the Lord Chancellor (Loreburn), Lord Macnaghten, Lord James of Hereford, and Lord Atkinson- diss. Lord Halsbury, Lord Robertson, and Lord Collins), rev. decision of the First Division (diss. Lord M’Laren), that upon a consideration of the whole provisions of the Act of 1833 he was entitled to remain a contributor to the Widows’ Fund and a Member of the Society.
Per the Lord Chancellor (Loreburn)-‘Between two equally admissible interpretations the more reasonable should be preferred. And if an Act will read equally well whether or not an unexpressed condition be implied, a Court ought surely not to imply a condition that works hardship.’
Per Lord Halsbury (dissenting)-‘For my own part I cannot understand why such a society, which means to confine those who enter it to those possessing a particular professional qualification, is not supposed to require the member to possess throughout the qualification without which he could not have entered the Society.’
Judges:
Lord Chancellor (Loreburn), the Earl of Halsbury, Lord Macnaghten, Lord James of Hereford, Lord Robertson, Lord Atkinson, and Lord Collins
Citations:
[1908] UKHL 454, 45 SLR 454
Links:
Jurisdiction:
Scotland
Legal Professions
Updated: 26 April 2022; Ref: scu.621499