Chapter 4Classification and survey of types of business organisationpublic advertisement of the post. No special qualifica-
tions are required for secretaries of private companies
where these are appointed but qualifications are laid down
for secretaries of public companies. These are explained
in Chapter 6.
In the past, trading companies were incorporated by
Royal Charter. However, incorporation by registration
was set up in 1844 by the Joint Stock Companies Act
of that year, and it is most unlikely that incorporation
by Royal Charter would be used today to incorporate a
commercial business. Charters are still used to incor-
porate certain organisations, such as professional bodies
which control the professions, e.g. the Chartered Institute
of Secretaries and Administrators, and for incorporating
certain bodies in the public sector, such as the British
Broadcasting Corporation.
As to how you get a charter, the organisation wanting
one sends what is called a petition to the Privy Council.
The Privy Council consists of members of the current
Cabinet who become members of the Council when
they first take office, former members of the Cabinet,
and others appointed by the Queen on the recom-
mendation of the Prime Minister as an honour for
service in some branch of public affairs at home or
overseas. There are also what are called convential mem-
bers who become members by reason of holding another
office, e.g. the Speaker of the House of Commons. The
petition asks for the grant of a charter and sets out the
powers required. If the Privy Council considers that it is
appropriate to grant a charter, the Crown will be advised
to do so.
The public sector
At the end of the Second World War the then Labour
government thought it right to bring into the public
sector certain organisations providing goods or services
to the public on a national basis with a complete or
partial monopoly, e.g. the mining of coal. Public cor-
porations were formed to manage these organisations.
These organisations have now been returned to the
private sector through the medium of public limited
companies with shareholders. The commercial public
corporations are for all practical purposes non-existent,
though an example in the social services area is the
Health and Safety Executive set up by the Health and
Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 to supervise and enforce
health and safety through inspectors (see further, Chap-
ter 16 ).
Natural and juristic persons
Natural personsThese are human beings, who are known to the law as
natural persons. An adult human being has in general
terms the full range of legal rights and a full range of
legal duties. Thus, if A makes a contract with B and B
fails to perform it, A has a right, e.g. to damages, because
B failed to perform a duty. A similar situation would
occur if A failed in his duty to perform the contract thus
denying B his right to have it performed.
However, the law distinguishes between certain
classes of human beings and gives them a statuswhich
means that they have more limited rights and duties
than are given to other persons. Examples are minors
(persons under the age of 18), and persons who lack
mental capacity.
Some contracts of minors are not binding on them
and they cannot be sued for damages for breach of con-
tract if they fail to perform them. As regards persons
who allegedly lack mental capacity, the Mental Capacity
Act 2005 provides that a person is assumed to have
mental capacity, e.g. to make the contract in question,
unless either party can prove to the contrary. If it is
shown that there is insufficient mental capacity then the
contract is not binding on either party. The Act contains
provisions relating to payment for necessary goods, e.g.
food and clothing and services, where these have been
supplied and delivered to the person who lacks mental
capacity. These matters are more fully dealt with in
Chapter 7.
Non-human creatures are not legal persons and do
not have those rights and duties which a human being
gets at birth. However, animals may be protected by
the law for certain purposes, such as conservation. For
example, s 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
protects certain wild animals by making it a criminal
offence for a person intentionally to kill, injure or take
any animal included in Sch 5 to that Act, e.g. bats.
The Animal Welfare Act 2006 is also relevant and is
concerned, e.g. with trade in exotic animals where stand-
ards of animal care are often poor. It has also a wider
impact on animal care in, e.g. pet shops and pet fairs
where standards of care are too often wholly inadequate.
There is also the Hunting Act 2004 which in general pro-
hibits the use of dogs to hunt wild animals in England
and Wales.75