“Ultra vires.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ultra%20vires. Retrieved 14 January 2022. Thus, in a number of cases where it was established that organs other than the Oireachtas had exercised their powers under primary law to promote public order, the contested primary law has been interpreted as not permitting a subsidiary body to exercise public order. In such cases, primary law was considered constitutional, but subsidiary or secondary law, which amounted to the creation of public policy, was considered ultra vires primary law and repealed. Something that is ultra vires is done without the right authority or power. If the CEO of a company sells many of the company`s assets without consulting shareholders, it is an ultra vires action. In many jurisdictions, such as Australia, legislation provides that a company has all the powers of a natural person[8] and other persons; The validity of acts rendered ultra vires is also preserved. [9] Several modern developments related to business start-ups have limited the likelihood of ultra vires actions. Except in the case of not-for-profit corporations (including municipal corporations), this legal doctrine is obsolete; In recent years, almost all businesses have been created to enable them to conduct legitimate activities. The U.S.
Model Business Corporation Act states: “The validity of corporate actions shall not be challenged on the basis that the corporation is unable or incapable of acting. The doctrine still has some life among non-profit organizations or state-created corporations established for a specific public purpose, such as universities or charities. The situation was changed by the 1985 Act, which largely abolished the doctrine of commercial companies. The situation is now regulated by sections 31 and 39 of the Companies Act 2006, which also severely limit the applicability of ultra vires in company law, although it can still apply to charities and a shareholder can only apply for an injunction in advance to prevent an act known as ultra vires. Under U.S. law, the concept of ultra vires may still exist in some states in the following types of activities: Ad rempublicam firmandam, et ad stabiliendas vires, et sanandum populum, omnis ejus pergebat institutio. These sample phrases are automatically selected from various online information sources to reflect the current use of the word “ultra vires”. The views expressed in the examples do not represent the views of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us your feedback.
Under constitutional law, particularly in Canada and the United States, constitutions confer various powers on federal, provincial or state governments. To go beyond these powers would be ultra vires; For example, although the Court did not use this term to amend a federal statute in United States v. Lopez, arguing that it exceeded the constitutional authority of Congress, the Supreme Court still declared the law ultra vires. [10] In administrative law, an act may be subject to ultra vires judicial review in the strict or broad sense. Ultra vires étroit applies if an insolvency practitioner lacked substantive decision-making authority or was vitiated by procedural irregularities. Broad ultra vires applies where there is an abuse of authority (e.g., Wednesbury unreasonableness or bad faith) or failure to exercise administrative discretion (e.g., acting at the request of others or illegally applying government policy), or irrational and abuse of discretion. [11] Both doctrines may be entitled to various privileges, equitable remedies, or legal orders if satisfied. Legal issues related to ultra vires can arise in a variety of contexts: Ultra vires means “beyond powers.” It is used to describe an action that requires legal authorization or authority, but is then carried out externally or without the required authority. In the case of capital companies, `ultra vires` means an act or transaction of a company which, while not unlawful or contrary to public policy when committed by a natural person, nevertheless falls outside the legitimate powers of the company as defined in the statutes under which it was incorporated or in the statutes applicable to it. or by its constitution, although the scope of the ultra vires doctrine as it applies to corporations and corporations is now limited by law. In the landmark case of Anisminic v. Foreign Compensation Commission,[12] Lord Reid is accredited to formulate the ultra vires doctrine.
However, ultra vires, as well as impropriety, were mentioned much earlier by Lord Russell in the famous Kruse v Johnson case,[13] which involved challenging laws and other rules. Anisminic is best known for not depriving the courts of their jurisdiction to overturn a decision, even though a law expressly prohibits the decision from being subject to judicial review. Other cases such as Bromley LBC v. Greater London Council[14] and Council of Civil Service Unions v. Minister of the Civil Service[15] have tried to refine the doctrine. In corporate law, ultra vires describes acts performed by a company that go beyond the powers conferred by the company`s purpose clause, articles of association, articles of association, similar instruments of incorporation or laws authorizing the incorporation of a company. Acts attempted by a company that do not fall within its articles of association are null and void. In British constitutional law, ultra vires describes patents, ordinances and other similar patents granted under the prerogatives of the Crown and contrary to laws passed by the Crown in Parliament. Almost unknown in modern times, the ultra vires acts of the crown or its servants posed a major threat to the rule of law. Ultra vires is one of many Latin idioms for legal terms.
It combines ultra, “beyond” and vires, “strength or power”. This term appears most often in business law when a company violates its articles of association or other contracts and acts invalidly.