Cy Pres in United Kingdom

Meaning of Cy Pres

The following is an old definition of Cy Pres [1]: As near; as near as; as near as can be. The rule of construction that the intention of a testator, who seeks to create a charity, is to be given effect as far as is consistent with the rules of law is known as the cypris doctrine. Refers to the judicial power of substituting a charity which approaches another, the original, charity, in nature and character. Where the particular intention cannot be given effect, the words will be construed so as to give effect to the general intention evinced, and that as near to the particular intention as the law permits. The doctrine modifies the strictness of the common law, as to a condition precedent to the enjoyment of a personal legacy. When a literal compliance with the condition becomes impossible from unavoidable circumstances, and without default in the legatee, it is sufficient that the condition is complied with as near as it practically can be. Borrowed from the Roman law, by which donations for public purposes were applied, when illegal cy pres, to other and legal purposes. Or, originated in the indulgence shown to the ignorance of testators who devised to the unborn son of an unborn son. A leading and illustrative case is that of Jackson v. Phillips, decided in Massachusetts in 1867. The will created a trust ” for the preparation and circulation of books and newspapers, the delivery of speeches, lectures, and such other means as in their [the trustees’] judgment will create a public sentiment that will put an end to negro slavery in this country,” and ” for the benefit of fugitive slaves escaping from the slave-holding States.” While litigation upon the will was in progress, the Thirteenth Amendment, abolishing slavery, was adopted (1865); and the fund in question was ultimately applied to the New England Branch of the American Freedman’s Union Commission. The general doctrine has been approved in all of the New England States except Connecticut, in Illinois, and in Mississippi. In some States the doctrine has not been decided; in Pennsylvania it obtains where a designated class of beneficiaries become extinct; in Alabama, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia, it seems to be repudiated., The Supreme Court of the United States, in its latest decisions, favors the doctrine. See Charity.

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Notes and References

1. Concept of Cy Pres provided by the Anderson Dictionary of Law (1889) (Dictionary of Law consisting of Judicial Definitions and Explanations of Words, Phrases and Maxims and an Exposition of the Principles of Law: Comprising a Dictionary and Compendium of American and English Jurisprudence; William C. Anderson; T. H. Flood and Company, Law Publishers, Chicago, United States)