Methodist Church
(Jersey) Law 1986
A LAW to establish and incorporate
the Trustees for Jersey Methodist Church Purposes and to vest in them all
property held upon the trusts of the Model Deed of the Methodist Church, and
for connected purposes
Commencement
[see endnotes]
1 Interpretation
In this Law, unless the context otherwise requires –
“1929 Act” means the Methodist Church Union
Act 1929 of the United Kingdom which extends to Jersey as mentioned in
section 35 thereof;
“1976 Act” means the Methodist Church Act 1976
of the United Kingdom as the same shall be extended to Jersey by Order in
Council, with such exceptions, adaptations and modifications as may be
specified in the Order;
“Board” means the corporate body established by Article 2;
“Circuit” shall have the meaning assigned to that
expression for the time being by paragraph 1 of Part I of Schedule 2 to
the 1976 Act save that for the purposes of Articles 3 and 8 it shall
mean only the Jersey Circuit or other Circuit for the time being comprising or
including Jersey;
“Conference” has the meaning assigned to it by section 2(1)
of the 1976 Act;
“Methodist Church” has the meaning assigned to it by
section 2(1) of the 1976 Act;
“model trusts” means the trusts for the time being
contained in Part III of Schedule 2 to the 1976 Act;
“purposes of the Methodist Church” means the purposes
mentioned in section 4 of the 1976 Act;
“property” has the meaning assigned to it by section 2(1)
of the 1976 Act;
“Synod” means the Channel Islands District Synod of the
Methodist Church.
2 Establishment of the Trustees for Jersey Methodist Church Purposes
(1) For the purposes of
this Law there shall be established a body to be called the “Trustees for
Jersey Methodist Church Purposes” (in this Law referred to as the “Board”)
to perform the functions assigned to the Board by or under this Law.
(2) The Board shall be a
body corporate having perpetual succession and a common seal and with power to
acquire and hold immovable property and personal property of every kind and to
transfer, exchange, assign, lease or otherwise dispose of any present or future
immovable property or personal property held by them and the Board may sue and
be sued under that name and may act as trustees and as custodian trustees.
(3) The Board shall, as
soon as may be after they have been constituted, establish and shall thereafter
maintain in Jersey a registered office at which all instruments for service
upon the Board shall be served.
(4) It shall be the duty of
the Board to give to the Judicial Greffier notice in writing of the situation
of their registered office for the time being.
(5) The powers referred to
in paragraph (2) shall be exercisable subject to such consents or orders
(if any) being obtained as would, if this Law had not been passed, have been
requisite if the transaction were being effected under an express power
conferred by an instrument creating a trust.
(6) The following
provisions shall have effect with respect to any property (in this paragraph
referred to as “trust property”) vested in the Board as custodian
trustees –
(a) the
trust property shall vest in or be transferred to the Board as if they were
sole trustee;
(b) the
management of the trust property and the exercise of any power or discretion
exercisable by the trustees under the trusts applicable shall remain or be
vested in the trustees other than the Board (which trustees are in this paragraph
referred to as the “managing trustees”);
(c) as
between the Board and the managing trustees, and subject to and without
prejudice to the rights of any other persons, the Board shall have the custody
of all securities and documents relating to the trust property, but the
managing trustees shall have free access thereto and be entitled to take copies
or extracts;
(d) the Board
shall concur in and perform all acts necessary to enable the managing trustees
to exercise any powers of management or any other power or discretion vested in
the managing trustees (including the power to pay money or securities into
court), unless the manner in which the Board are requested to concur is a
breach of trust, or involves a personal liability on the Board in respect of
calls or otherwise, but, unless they so concur, the Board shall not be liable
for any act or default on the part of the managing trustees or any of them;
(e) all
sums payable out of the income or capital of the trust property shall be paid
to or by the Board, but the Board may allow the dividends and other income
derived from the trust property to be paid to the managing trustees or to such person
as the managing trustees direct, or into such bank to the credit of such person
as the managing trustees may direct, and in such case the Board shall be
exonerated from seeing to the application thereof and shall not be answerable
for any loss or misapplication thereof;
(f) the
power of appointing new trustees, when exercisable by the managing trustees,
shall be exercisable by the managing trustees alone, but the Board shall have
the same power of applying to the court for the appointment of a new trustee as
any other trustee;
(g) the Board,
if they act in good faith, shall not be liable for accepting as correct and
acting on the faith of any written statement by the managing trustees as to any
matter of fact, upon which the title to the trust property may depend, nor for
acting upon any legal advice obtained by the managing trustees independently of
the Board.
3 Constitution of Board and first members
(1) Subject to the
provisions of this Law, the Board shall consist of the Chairman of the Synod,
the Superintendent Minister of the Circuit and such number of appointed members
as the Synod shall (subject to the provisions of this Article) from time to
time think fit provided that such number shall be an even number and not more
than 8 nor less than 4.
(2) Each member of the Board
shall be a member of the Methodist Church and in the case of an appointed
member shall at the time of the person’s appointment be resident in Jersey
and, subject to the provisions of this Law with respect to avoidance and
determination of office, shall hold office until the member attains 70 years of
age.
(3) This first appointed
members of the Board shall be the persons appointed by the Synod following
nomination by the Circuit to be such members and a statement in writing under
the hand of the Chairman of the Synod shall be conclusive evidence as to who
are the first appointed members of the Board. The Synod may from time to time
(subject to the provisions of this Article) appoint new or additional members
of the Board and a statement in writing under the hand of the Chairman of the
Synod shall be conclusive evidence of such appointment.
4 Appointment of new members
(1) If a member of the Board
shall –
(a) die;
(b) become
bankrupt;
(c) make
an assignment for the benefit of the member’s creditors;
(d) refuse
or be unfit to act or be incapable of acting as a member of the Board;
(e) being
an appointed member reside for 12 consecutive months out of Jersey;
(f) cease
to be a member of the Methodist Church;
(g) by
notice in writing sent or delivered to the Chairman for the time being of the
Synod state the member’s desire to resign from the Board; or
(h) attain
the age of 70 years,
the member shall thereupon cease to be a member of the Board.
(2) On the occurrence of a
vacancy or vacancies in the appointed membership of the Board pursuant to paragraph (1)
it shall be the duty of the Synod to make such further appointments to the Board
as may be requisite to cause such membership thereof to comply with Article 3.
(3) The proceedings of the Board
shall not be invalidated by any vacancy in their membership.
5 Procedure
(1) Subject to the
provisions of this Law or to any other statutory provision or rule of law, or
any trust deed, under which the Board may hold any immovable property or
personal property, the Board may from time to time determine their own
procedure.
(2) The common seal of the Board
shall be kept by such person or persons as the Board by resolution or by a
memorandum under the hands of all the members thereof shall from time to time
appoint and shall not be affixed to any instrument except with the sanction of
at least 2 members of the Board testified by their signatures to a statement
expressing such sanction written on the instrument to which the seal is affixed
but it shall not be necessary for the members so testifying their sanction to
be present at the affixing of the seal.
6 Transfer of property to Board
(1) All immovable property
and all personal property held upon the trusts of the Model Deed in Jersey
shall on the appointed day by virtue of this Law be vested in the Board in
place and to the exclusion of all persons who are then the trustees of such
property subject to the trusts, directions and powers referred to or contained
in this Law and the 1976 Act and the Board shall hold all such property as
custodian trustees upon the model trusts and freed and discharged from all
trusts powers and provisions affecting such property before the commencement of
this Law but subject to any encumbrance affecting the same.
(2) The Board may receive
and hold all immovable property and all personal property of every kind which
shall from time to time be given or transferred to them upon or for any trusts,
intents or purposes of the Methodist Church in Jersey or its Synod, circuits,
districts, missions or other connectional or local organisations whether
immediately connected with chapels or not or upon or for any trusts, intents or
purposes connected with any of its Sunday schools, day schools, or
ministers’ houses or upon or for any trusts, intents or purposes
connected with any society, institution or charity subsidiary or ancillary to
the Methodist Church.
(3) In relation to the Board
and in relation to the trusts of or affecting any immovable property given or
transferred to them Article 11(2)(a)(iii) of the Trusts (Jersey) Law 1984, shall not have effect.
(4) In this Article “appointed
day” means the day on which this Law comes into operation.
(5) Nothing in this Article
shall derogate from the provisions of Article 13.
7 Trustees’ indemnity preserved
Nothing contained in this Law shall deprive any trustee of any
property referred to in Article 6(1) of any rights to which but for this Law
the trustee would be entitled to be indemnified out of such property in respect
of any mortgage, charge, incumbrance, lien, bond and disposition in security or
obligation in respect of which the trustee shall have become personally liable.
8 Evidence
Any document purporting to be a copy of any resolution passed by the
Conference or Synod or Circuit or the Board (such document being or purporting
to be signed by the Secretary of the Conference or Chairman of the Synod or the
Superintendent Minister of the Circuit or Chairman of the Board as the case may
be for the time being) shall be conclusive evidence that such resolution was
duly passed by the Conference, Synod, Circuit or the Board, as the case may be
and a letter signed or purporting to be signed by the Secretary of the
Conference, Chairman of the Synod, Superintendent Minister of the Circuit or
Chairman of the Board as the case may be for the time being, declaring that
such resolution has been passed by a particular majority shall be conclusive
evidence of the fact that without proof of the number or proportion of the
votes recorded in favour of or against such resolution.
9 Indemnity of Board and members thereof
No member of the Board shall by being party to or executing as such
member, any contract or other instrument or otherwise lawfully executing any of
the powers given to the Board by this Law be subjected to be sued or prosecuted
by any person whomsoever nor shall the bodies, goods or lands of any such
members be liable to execution of any legal process by reason of any contract
or other instrument so entered into signed or executed by the Board or any of
the members thereof or by reason of any lawful act done by the Board or any of
the members thereof in the execution of any of their powers as such Board or
member and the members of the Board, their executors and administrators, shall
be indemnified out of any trust for the time being vested in the Board for all
payments made or liabilities incurred in respect of any acts done by them in connexion
with such property or the trusts affecting the same and for all losses, costs
and damages which they may incur in the execution of this Law as regards such
property or the trusts affecting the same and the Board may apply such property
for the purposes of such indemnity.
10 Application of the Trusts
(Jersey) Law 1984 in modified form
The Trusts (Jersey) Law 1984, shall apply to the Board,
the model trusts and all property now or hereafter held by the Board upon the
model trusts or any other trusts as if Article 11(2)(a)(iii) were deleted
from the Trusts (Jersey) Law 1984.
11 Non-application of the Loi (1862) sur les teneures en fidéicommis
et l’incorporation d’associations
The Loi (1862) sur les teneures en fidéicommis
et l’incorporation d’associations shall not apply to the Board,
the model trusts or any property now or hereafter held by the Board upon the
model trusts or any other trusts.
12 Registration
(1) The Royal Court shall,
when it orders the registration of this Law, also order the registration of a
copy of this Law signed by the Greffier of the States in the Public Registry of
Contracts.
(2) No fees shall be
payable under the Departments of the Judiciary and the Legislature
(Jersey) Law 1965, in relation to the registration of a copy as required by paragraph (1)
of this Article.
13 Effect of registration in the Public Registry of Contracts
(1) The registration of a
copy of this Law in the Public Registry of Contracts shall on the appointed day
have like effect as a contract passed before the Royal Court and the title to
any immovable property held upon the trusts of the Model Deed which immediately
before the appointed day was registered in the Public Registry of Contracts
shall vest in, belong to and be held by the Board on and after the appointed
day.
(2) In this Article “appointed
day” means the day on which this Law comes into operation.
14 Citation
This Law shall be cited as the Methodist Church (Jersey)
Law 1986.