header-logo header-logo

Parish pump, prayers & politics

01 February 2013 / Keith Davies
Issue: 7546 / Categories: Features , Local government , Public
printer mail-detail
scan_lngsutprtp002_cameroon-c_0036_001_2

Keith Davies considers the vexed question of whether prayers should be said at town council meetings

“Corporations have neither bodies to be punished, nor souls to be condemned, they therefore do as they like.”—Lord Chancellor Thurlow, member of the government of William Pitt the Younger, (1783-1801) quoted in John Poynder, Literary Extracts, 1844.

Or, as the alternative, more convincing version of this quote goes: “Did you ever expect a corporation to have a conscience, when it has no soul to be damned and no body to be kicked?” (true vintage Thurlow-speak, surely?)

Such pithy remarks apply to companies, public corporations, local councils—bodies of all kinds, in fact, which possess corporate status. These classic statements of Thurlow’s law, in fact, were not used in argument in a recent case decided in the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court, R (on the application of the National Secular Society) v Bideford Town Council [2012] 2 All ER 1175, [2012] EWHC 175. This was a successful claim for judicial review of the

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
The Court of Protection has ruled in Macpherson v Sunderland City Council that capacity must be presumed unless clearly rebutted. In this week's NLJ, Sam Karim KC and Sophie Hurst of Kings Chambers dissect the judgment and set out practical guidance for advisers faced with issues relating to retrospective capacity and/or assessments without an examination
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
back-to-top-scroll