Doctrine Of Ultra Vires In Administrative Law South Africa

The company being an artificial person its objects and powers are specified in the memorandum of association moa of the company.

Doctrine of ultra vires in administrative law south africa. The ultra vires doctrine is a kind of insurance policy that reassures a company s shareholders and creditors that the company will not use their assets or funds for any purposes other than those that are afforded to it and specified within the ultra vires doctrine. By two key common law doctrines. After years of the ultra vires doctrine frustrating commercial dealings and prejudicing outsiders parliament saw fit to effectively abolish it by enacting s 36 of the companies act 61 of 1973 the 1973 act. The mineworker s union v prinsloo 1948 3 sa 831 ad at 843 4 847.

Its opposite an act done under proper authority is intra vires within the powers. This doctrine can be considered as the central principle in the whole of administrative law. Beyond the powers is a latin phrase used in law to describe an act which requires legal authority but is done without it. Hence it is null and void.

Summing up the doctrine of ultra vires. In other words the doctrine of ultra vires applies to defendant like any other corporation see street doctrine of ultra vires pp 4 22 23. The memorandum is the most crucial document for a company. Types of ultra vires acts.

Cape united sick fund society others v forrest others 1956 4 sa 519 ad. South african administrative law is the branch of public law in that country which regulates the legal relations of public authorities whether with private individuals and organisations or with other public authorities or better say in present day south africa which regulates the activities of bodies that exercise public powers or perform public functions irrespective of whether those. An action of the authority is intra vires when it falls within the limits of the power conferred on it but ultra vires if it goes outside this limit. Section 20 1 of the 2008 act has.

There are three types of ultra vires acts which. An act ultra vires the company cannot be ratified even by the unanimous consent of all shareholders. Acts that are intra vires may equivalently be termed valid and those that are ultra vires termed invalid. The doctrine of ultra vires is produced by the constitutional principles of the rule of law the sovereignty of parliament and the independence of the judiciary.

The doctrine of ultra vires and the doctrine of con structive notice. The concept of ultra vires in the company law the ultra vires mean to go beyond the object clause of a memorandum of association of a company. The doctrine of ultra vires is the basic doctrine in administrative law.