University of London v Prag & Anor
2014
CHANCERY DIVISION
United Kingdom
CORAM
- MRS JUSTICE PROUDMAN
Areas of Law
- Trust Law
- Property and Real Estate Law
2014
CHANCERY DIVISION
United Kingdom
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The case involves a construction summons brought by the University of London (UOL) concerning a 1944 Trust Deed involving the Warburg Family, the Warburg Society, and UOL. The questions pertained to the scope of the Deed, ownership of property, and UOL's obligations to manage and fund the Institute under the Deed. UOL was found to hold the 1944 Collection on charitable trust and must manage the Institute as an independent unit. The court ruled that UOL could not levy general estate-wide service charges on the Institute and has an obligation to fund it.
Judgment
Mrs Justice Proudman :
I am asked to resolve a number of questions raised in a construction summons arising out of a Trust Deed (“the Deed”) dated 28 November 1944 and made between (1) Eric Max Warburg “on behalf of the Warburg Family”, (2) Viscount Lee of Fareham “on behalf of the Warburg Society” and (3) the University of London (“UOL”). Questions have arisen in the events which have happened as to the scope of the Deed, the ownership of property, the status of funding and the propriety of the administration by UOL under the Deed. UOL brought a construction summons to determine these questions at the behest of HM Attorney General, who is the second defendant to this action.
Mr Pearce QC and Mr Wells appeared before me for UOL, Mr Taube QC and Mr Smith for Professor Prag and Miss Tipples QC for the Attorney General. Between them they produced three ring binders of detailed skeleton arguments and written submissions. I fear I have not done justice to them in this judgment although I have considered them all with some care. Mr Taube and Miss Tipples broadly adopted a common stance but parcelled out the arguments between themselves.
UOL is a body incorporated by Royal Charter established for exclusively charitable purposes, (an exempt charity for the purposes of s.22 of, and Sched 3 para 2 to, the Charities Act 2011) although it is commonly seen as a federation of numerous institutions which have varying degrees of autonomy.
The first defendant is Professor Emeritus at the University of Manchester, a member of the Advisory Council of the Institute and a descendant of its founder, Professor Aby Warburg. He has been joined to represent a sub-committee of the Advisory Council.
The questions relate to a collection of books, photographs and the like given in their original state to UOL in 1944. The question of who were the then owners of the Warburg Library (which I shall where appropriate simply call “the Library”) was deliberately left vague in the Deed. Members of the Warburg family (that is to say Aby Warburg’s four brothers Felix, Fritz, Max and Paul, or their children, principally Max’s son Major Eric or Erich Warburg) were apparently reluctant to be named as owners of the collection both for fiscal and for political reasons. However it seems to have been clear that the owners were members of the Warburg family, or just possibly the Warburg Society, a charitable association whose stated aim under its founding Deed of 17 May 1934 was to “ hous