Conservative and Unionist Central Office v Burrell

Conservative and Unionist Central Office v Burrell [1981] EWCA Civ 2 is an English trusts law case, concerning the policy of the "beneficiary principle" and unincorporated associations.

Facts

The Inland Revenue argued that the Tory party should pay corporation tax under the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1970 section 526, because members’ contributions took effect as an accretion to the funds, the subject matter of a contract, which safeguarded what happened with the members’ funds.

Vinelott J [1980] 3 All ER 42 held that each contributor enters a contract with the treasurer, who undertakes to use the subscription for the association’s purposes. Breach would mean liability in contract.

Judgment

The Court of Appeal held there was no contract which connected the various limbs of the Conservative Party, and the various members, so the Re Recher analysis could not apply. Brightman LJ said donations to parties give a mandate or authority as an agent to the party treasurer to add the party’s funds. This must be used for party purposes. The mandate becomes irrevocable, but the contributor has a remedy to restrain misapplication of money unless his own contribution had been spent already (judged by ordinary accounting principles). It was accepted that the same kind of reasoning (whether contract or agency) could not apply for a dead person, although a dead person could authorise personal representatives to do so.

[[Lawton