Franchise in United Kingdom

Definition of Franchise

In accordance with the work A Dictionary of Law, this is a description of Franchise :

1. (in constitutional law) A special right conferred by the Crown on a subject. Also known as a liberty, it is exemplified by the right to hold a market or fair or to run a ferry.

2. (in constitutional law) The right to vote at an electio To qualify to vote at a parliamentary or local-government election, a person must be a *commonwealth citizen or a citizen of the Republic of Ireland, must be aged 18 or over, must be shown on the register of electors governing the election (See elector) as resident on the qualifying date in the parliamentary constituency or local government area concerned, and must not be subject to any legal incapacity to vote. Those incapacitated are peers and peeresses in their own right (for parliamentary elections only, and not including peers of Ireland), persons serving sentences of imprisonment, persons convicted during the preceding five years of certain offences relating to elections or to the bribery of public officials, and persons who are incapable of understanding the nature of their acts.

3. (in commercial law) A licence given to a manufacturer, distributor, trader, etc., to enable them to manufacture or sell a named product or service in a particular area for a stated period. The holder of the licence (franchisee) usually pays the grantor of the licence (franchisor) a royalty on sales, often with a lump sum as an advance against royalties. The franchisor may also supply the franchisee with a brand identity as well as finance and technical expertise. Franchises are common in the fast -food business, petrol stations, travel agents, etc. A franchise contract in the EU must comply with regulation 4087/88, which sets out which provisions are permitted and which are banned under EU *competition law.

Concept of Franchise

The following is an old definition of Franchise [1], a term which has several meanings:1. A royal privilege, or branch of the king’s prerogative, subsisting in the hands of a subject. A special privilege conferred by government upon individuals, and which does not belong to citizens of the country generally, of common right. A generic term covering all rights granted to a corporation by the legislature. “whence (the word(s) which follow it are derivatives from the same root word) ” corporate franchises.” A corporate franchise is a legal estate vested in the corporation as soon as it is in esse. Not a mere naked power, but a power coupled with an interest. A privilege conferred by the immediate or antecedent legislation of an act of incorporation, with conditions expressed or necessarily inferential from its language, as to the manner of its exercise and for its enjoyment. To ascertain how it is brought into existence, the whole charter must be consulted. Generalized, and divested of the special form which it assmnes under a monarchical government based on feudal traditions, a franchise is a right, privilege or power of public concern, which ought not to be exercised by private individuals at their mere will and pleasure, but should be reserved for public control and administration, either by the government or directly, or by public agents, acting under such conditions and reg- ulations as the government may impose in the public interest, and for the public security. Such rights and powers must exist under every form of society. They are always educed by the laws and customs of the community. Under our system, their existence and disposal are under the legislative department, and they cannot be assumed or exercised without legislative authority. Thus, no private person can establish a public highway, or a public ferry, or railroad, or charge tolls for the use of the same, or exercise the right of eminent domain or corporate capacity, without authority from the legislature, direct or derived. The word is used as synonymous with privilege and immunity of a personal character; but in law imports something which the citizen cannot enjoy without legislative grant. What members obtain in a religious, benevolent, or scientiflc association incorporated under general or special laws, is membership. A corporation is itself a franchise belonging to the members of the corporation, and the corporation, itself a franchise, may hold other franchises. The different powers of the corporation are franchises. The essential properties of corporate existence are quite distinct from the franchises of the corporation. The franchise of being a corporation belongs to the corporators, while the powers and privileges vested in, and to be exercised by, the corporate body as such, are the franchises of the corporation. The latter has no power to dispose of the franchise of its members, which may survive in the mere fact of corporate existence, after the corporation has parted with all its property and all its franchises. The franchise to be a corporation is not a subject of sale and transfer, unless made so by a statute, which provides a mode for exercising it. Often synonymous with rights, privileges, and immunities, though of a personal and temporary character; so that, if any one of these exists, it is loosely termed a ” franchise.” But the term must always be considered in connection with the corporation or property to which it is alleged to appertain. The franchises of a railroad corporation are the rights or privileges which are essential to the operations of the corporation, and without which its road and works would be of little value; such as the franchise to run cars, to take tolls, to appropriate earth for the bed of its road, or water for its engines, and the like. These are positive rights or privileges without the possession of which the road could not be successfully worked. But immunity from taxation is not a franchise. The franchises of a railroad company are in a large measure designed to be exercised for the public good, which exercise is the consideration for granting them. The company cannot, therefore, render itself incapable of performing its duties, or absolve Itself from the- obligation, without the consent of the State. A franchise is property and nothing more; it is incorporeal property. As such it is liable for debts and subject to the right of eminent domain. The ordinary franchise of a railway company is to condemn, take, and use lands for the purpose of a public highway, and to take tolls from those who use it as such. Land, in itself, is not a franchise. A franchise is an incorporeal hereditament; a liberty proceeding from the commonwealth. A grant of a corporate franchise by an act of legislation, accepted by the grantee, is a contract between the State and the grantee, the obligation of which a subsequent legislature cannot impair. Exclusive rights to public franchises are not fa- vored; if granted they will be protected, but they are never presvuned. A corporation cannot dispose of its franchises to another corporation without legislative authority. A grant of corporate franchises is necessarily subject to the condition that the privileges conferred shall not be abused, or be employed to defeat the ends for which they were conferred; and that when abused or misemployed, they may be withdrawn by proceed- ings consistent with law. . . A corporation is subject to such reasonable regulations as the legislature may from time to time prescribe, as to the general conduct of its affairs, serving only to secure the ends for which it was created, and not materially interfering with the privileges granted to it. See Bonus; Grant, 3; Mokopolt; Railroad; Tax; Toll; Warrantum

Alternative Meaning

In a popular sense, the political rights of subjects and citizens are called franchises: as, the electoral franchise – the right of suffrage. The right of voting for a member to serve in parliament is called the “parliamentary franchise; ” the right of voting for an alderman or town councilor, the ” municipal franchise.” Elective franchise. The right of choosing governmental agents. Enfranchise. 1. To make free of a city or state

Alternative Meaning

To invest with political freedom and capacity. Disfranchise. Todeprive of a franchise conferred; to suspend or withdraw the exercise of a corporate or political right or privilege.

Resources

Notes and References

1. Meaning of Franchise 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)