Private Law Theory

INTRODUCTION
Our argument here is that there are lessons for general trusts law reform from recent jurisprudence on ‘statutory trusts’. By ‘statutory trusts’, we mean trusts that are provided for by statutes in specific contexts, where the idea, or ideal, of the institution of the private trust is adopted and adapted by the legislature for certain purposes. But exactly which incidents of the traditional private trust at common law (the ‘common law trust’) are recognised may still need to be determined. We also consider authorities where it has been argued unsuccessfully that a legislative framework, while not expressly invoking a ‘trust’, nonetheless gives rise to a statutory trust …

James Lee and Man Yip, Statutory Trusts and Trusty Statutes, King’s Law Journal. Published online: 5 March 2024.