Objects clause

An objects clause is a provision in a company's constitution stating the purpose and range of activities for which the company is carried on. In UK company law up until reforms in the Companies Act 1989 and the Companies Act 2006, an objects clause circumscribed the capacity, or power, of a company to act. The legal position was that any contract entered into beyond the power, or ultra vires, would be deemed void ab initio.

The legal problems concerning objects clauses are now largely historical artifacts. New companies no longer have to register objects under the Companies Act 2006 section 31, and that even if they do the ultra vires doctrine has been abolished against third parties under section 39. It is only relevant in an action against a director for breach of duty under section 171 for failure to observe the limits of their constitutional power.

Objects clauses were first seen in chartered corporations. Before the Industrial Revolution and the lifting on restrictions for private individuals to start companies, corporations were granted concessions from the state to operate a trade. The concession theory was that the state gave all power to companies. If companies acted outside the power granted, such actions were necessarily contrary to the public interest, null and void. The fact that people contracting with a corporation may be thoroughly disappointed and suffer loss was legitimated on the basis that every member of the public could see the law defining the corporation's capacity. Ignorantia juris non excusat.

The Cohen Committee (Cmnd 6659, 1945) para 12 recommended every company ‘should, notwithstanding anything omitted from its memorandum of association, have as regards third parties the same powers as an individual. Existing provisions in memoranda as regards the powers of companies… should operate solely as a contract between a company and its shareholders as to the powers exercisable by the directors’. This was not abandoned because it was thought reform of the constructive notice rule was too essential, and needed more research (if you constructively knew an object you would be bound).

Then the Jenkins Committee (Cmnd 1749, 1962) para 42 would have replaced constructive notice with various statutory rules but not abolished the ultra vires doctrine itself.

When the European Communities Act 1972 was put in place, section 9, based on Directive 77/91/EEC (requiring a company to state objects, but not to have them) lead to mandatory protections for people transacting with companies. As a result the Companies Act 1985 was amended to include sections 35 and 35A-B.

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