Report No. 16

2. Scope of revision.-

The Official Trustees Act has been in force for more than forty-five years. It is on the whole a comprehensive and well-drafted piece of legislation and no difficulties have been felt in the interpretation of the various sections of the Act. We are of the opinion that the Act does not require any substantial changes.

We have examined the provisions of the (English) Public Trustee Act, 1906 and the case-law thereunder to find out whether any useful changes can be made in our Act in the light of the same and we are satisfied that no such changes are necessary.

In England, the Lord Chancellor appointed, in 1954, a Committee "to consider the work of the Public Trustee and to advise whether any changes should be made in his functions or methods of business or in the financial conditions under which he operates". In keeping with its terms of reference the Committee dealt with the organisational and financial aspects of the office and made recommendations with a view to placing the Public Trustee in a sound financial position. We are not concerned with these aspects of the office of Official Trustee, and the recommendations of the Committee1 are therefore of little use for our purpose.

1. Report of the Committee of Enquiry into the Public Trustee Office, Cmd. 9755.