Category Archives: Equity and Trusts
Singh and Singh, ‘Unleashing the protector’s wider role in A and 6 others v C and 13 others [2026] UKPC 11′
ABSTRACT This case note examines A and 6 others v C and 13 others [2026] UKPC 11 (‘Re the X Trusts’), in which the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council clarified the default role of trust protectors exercising consent powers. Holding that, unless the trust instrument provides otherwise, protectors may exercise an independent judgment on […]
Ian Williams, ‘Precedent in Early-Modern Equity: The View from the Star Chamber’
ABSTRACT Precedent played an important role in theoretically one-off equitable interventions becoming regular, and equity becoming more law-like. However, the available sources limit our ability to understand the role of precedent in the Chancery in the key formative decades around 1600. This article uses the court of Star Chamber as a proxy for the other […]
Lachlan Wilson, ‘Beyond legal title: Sham, failure to divest beneficial ownership and proprietary treatment of retained powers’
ABSTRACT This article examines three distinct doctrinal routes by which creditors and other litigants may challenge a trust arrangement or reach assets connected with it: sham; failure to divest beneficial ownership; and proprietary treatment of retained powers as property or as rights tantamount to ownership. It distinguishes the legal basis and consequences of each route, […]
Ruifeng Song, ‘Information Fiduciaries’ Duty of Disclosure’
ABSTRACT The information fiduciary theory has emerged as one of the most influential proposals in contemporary privacy law, arguing that digital platforms owe users duties of loyalty and care analogous to those owed by traditional fiduciaries. Yet the framework suffers from a structural gap: it proposes duties whose enforcement depends on transparency into platform data […]
Ben Nichols, ‘The Business of Purpose Trusts’
ABSTRACT In an age of increased awareness around climate change, wealth inequality and employee well-being, many private business owners are rethinking the fundamentals of corporate ownership. This has prompted a rise in the popularity of long-term ‘purpose’ trusts as an alternative ownership strategy, particularly in the US. The recent decision in Fletcher’s Fields Ltd v […]
Albert Tan, ‘Charitable Property and the Accountability of Private Power’
ABSTRACT An irrevocable gift can leave its donor with extensive power over the institutions spending it. Once a recipient has recruited staff or committed funds of its own, withdrawal becomes expensive. The grant agreement determines who bears that expense. Drawing on United States nonprofit and tax law, this article argues for enforceable obligations attached to […]
Edwards, Manchak and Wong, ‘BX v T Limited: exceptional jurisdiction to order disclosure of trust documents to non-beneficiaries’
ABSTRACT This article examines the Guernsey Court of Appeal’s decision in BX v T Limited, which concerned an application for disclosure of confidential trust documents based upon the decision in Schmidt v Rosewood. Whilst cases involving Schmidt disclosure applications abound, they are typically brought by discretionary beneficiaries and focus on the scope of disclosure. Uncommonly, […]
Hanoch Dagan, ‘Autonomy and Pluralism’
ABSTRACT Fiduciary law is a wholesale legal category. It addresses a wide variety of deeply heterogenous legally-constituted or legally-facilitated frameworks. In this short entry, written for the forthcoming Concise Encyclopedia of Fiduciary Law (Yifat Naftali Ben Zion and D Gordon Smith eds), I argue that refining the distinctive contribution of fiduciary law to autonomy, while […]
Philip Sales, ‘The Role of Equity in the Law of Contract’
INTRODUCTION The interaction of contract law and Equity is a complex subject which can be approached from a number of perspectives. For the purposes of my lecture this evening I will be highlighting three of these: first, the moral visions which Equity and the law of contract draw on, respectively; secondly, the different functions they […]
Rachel Leow, ‘Agency in the Law: Definitions, Concepts, and Complications’
ABSTRACT What do we mean when we talk about agency? The answer depends on one’s discipline. Agency has different meanings and normative significance in law, morality, politics, economics, and other disciplines. This chapter was written for a conference on the theory of agency relationships, bringing together lawyers, philosophers, and economists to discuss different perspectives on […]