Book review: Guernsey Trust Law

By Tony Pursall TEP and Matthew Guthrie TEP

Reviewed by Rupert Morris

Although there have been many legal commentaries on Guernsey law over the centuries (focusing predominantly on its Norman and pre‑20th‑century customary law elements), few have been produced in recent times to assist the modern practitioner. The notable exceptions being Laws of Guernsey ^[1] and A Guide to Guernsey’s Trust Law,^[2] the latter of which formed the basis for this work – Guernsey Trust Law by Tony Pursall TEP and Matthew Guthrie TEP.

The pace of legislative change in Guernsey since A Guide to Guernsey’s Trust Law was published some 16 years ago means that any attempt to provide an up‑to‑date text on the current state of Guernsey law is to be wholeheartedly welcomed. Even more so in the area of Guernsey trust law, which received its first statutory recognition in Guernsey in 1989, albeit it was widely accepted that basic trust‑law principles had been part of the corpus of Guernsey customary law for some considerable time.

The authors’ stated guiding principles are that the book is intended to be ‘a comprehensive treatise of Guernsey trust law providing answers for practitioners advising on Guernsey trusts and trustees administering them’. As such, setting out the content in a short review is a challenge. There are 17 chapters in total covering: foundations and principles; express trusts; trusts arising by operation of law; taxation; creation, validity and termination; conflict of laws; trustees; powers, duties and liabilities of trustees; beneficiaries; protectors; trust investments; trust litigation; attacks on trusts; variation of trusts; remedial applications; regulation of fiduciaries; and the public trustee.

It is heartening to see that the scope of the text is so broad, ranging as it does from a historical analysis of the origins and development of trust principles, prior to the enactment of the Trusts (Guernsey) Law, 1989, to analysis of the duties and powers of trustees and protectors under the current regime; as well as of the various types of application that may be brought before the Royal Court of Guernsey.

Of particular note is the work’s grappling with some of the more often forgotten aspects of Guernsey trust law (in academic texts at any rate), such as taxation of trusts and the regulatory regimes under which all local fiduciaries must operate, and the authors are to be commended for this.

Readers familiar with the traditional academic authorities often quoted in court will find much comfort with the structure and layout of this book. The index is comprehensively organised and roughly one quarter of the work is devoted to the tables of cases and statutes cited. The text is readable and cites case law extensively to support the propositions made.

As such, it is likely to be of particular attraction for academics and legal practitioners, and this is perhaps the one criticism that could be raised against it (and it is, admittedly, a slight one). In adopting this style and approach it has perhaps done so at the expense of accessibility and could be regarded more as an academic text than a practical guide for the modern Guernsey trustee.

Notwithstanding this, overall it is a commendably extensive commentary on the current state of Guernsey trust law and one that is worthy of a place in any legal library.

ISBN: 9781509919307

Price: GBP144

Publisher: Hart Publishing