View source for Corporation sole

{{Short description|Type of legal entity}}
A '''corporation sole''' is a [[Legal person|legal entity]] consisting of a single ("sole") incorporated office, occupied by a single ("sole") [[natural person]].<ref name="technical_manual">[http://www.insolvencydirect.bis.gov.uk/freedomofinformation/technical/TechnicalManual/Ch73-84/Chapter%2075/Part%201/Part%201.htm Technical Manual], Insolvencydirect.bis.gov.uk</ref><ref name=separate>{{cite web| url = https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt200708/jtselect/jtstatin/180/18010.htm| title =  S.I. 2008/1957: extract from the explanatory memorandum prepared by the Ministry of Justice| last = Ministry of Justice| date = 21 October 2008| publisher = publications.parliament.uk
| quote = "If each separate office that person held had been a "corporation sole" (i.e. recognised in law as a separate legal entity)..." }}</ref> This structure allows corporations (often [[religious corporation]]s or [[Commonwealth]] governments) to pass without interruption from one officeholder to the next, giving positions legal continuity with subsequent officeholders having identical powers and possessions to their predecessors. A corporation sole is one of two types of [[corporation]], the other being a ''corporation aggregate''.<ref name="landregistry" />

==Ecclesiastical origins==
Most corporations sole are church-related,<ref name="technical_manual" /> although some political offices of the United Kingdom (e.g., many of the [[Secretary of State (United Kingdom)|secretaries of state]]), Canada, and the United States are corporations sole.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/sites/default/files/resources/cabinet-draft-manual.pdf|title=Draft Cabinet Manual (para 102)|publisher=Cabinet Office|date=December 2010|accessdate=7 January 2010|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426232549/http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/sites/default/files/resources/cabinet-draft-manual.pdf|archivedate=26 April 2012}}</ref>

The Catholic Church continues to use corporations sole in holding titles of property: as recently as 2002, it split a [[diocese]] in the [[States of the United States|US state]] of [[California]] into many smaller corporations sole and with each [[parish priest]] becoming his own corporation sole, thus limiting the diocese's liability for any [[Catholic Church sexual abuse cases|sexual abuse]] or other wrongful activity in which the priest might engage. This is, however, not the case everywhere, and legal application varies. For instance, other U.S. jurisdictions have used [[corporations]] at multiple levels.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Allen |first1=Robert |title=Detroit Archdiocese transfers assets; critics say it's a shell game |url=https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2018/12/14/detroit-archdiocese-transferring-assets/2302809002/ |accessdate=13 January 2019 |agency=Detroit Free Press |date=14 December 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Long-Garcia |first1=J.D. |title=Phoenix parishes to be separate corporations |url=https://www.catholic.org/news/national/story.php?id=27341 |website=Catholic Online |accessdate=13 January 2019 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190113232538/https://www.catholic.org/news/national/story.php?id=27341 |archivedate=13 January 2019 |url-status=live |date=27 March 2008}}</ref> 

[[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] uses the corporation sole form for [[President of the Church (LDS Church)|its president]], which is legally listed as "[[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints#Name and legal entities|The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]".<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=LDS Corp. — The church's long journey to stay on the right side of the law and its principles |url=https://www.sltrib.com/news/2021/06/01/lds-corp-church-longs/ |access-date=2023-10-02 |website=The Salt Lake Tribune |language=en-US}}</ref>

[[Iglesia ni Cristo]] was registered as corporation sole with the [[Insular Government]] of the [[Philippines]] in 1914.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/IglesiaNiKristoRegistrationDocument1914|title=Iglesia Ni Cristo Registration Document|date=14 July 1914 }}</ref>

==The Crown==
{{main|The Crown}}
Within most constitutional monarchies, notably the [[Commonwealth realm]]s, [[the Crown]] is a nonstatutory corporation sole.<ref name="Lagasse">{{cite journal | url=https://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/constitutional_forum/article/view/21751/16323 | title=Royal Succession and the Canadian Crown as a Corporation Sole: A Critique of Canada's Succession to the Throne Act, 2013 |first1=Philippe |last1=Lagassé |first2=James |last2=Bowden | journal=Constitutional Forum | year=2014 | volume=23 | issue=1}}</ref><ref name=Blackstone469>{{Harvnb|Blackstone|1809|p=469}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QYuF6jmoem8C&q=crown+as+corporation+sole&pg=PA348 | title=British Government and the Constitution: Text and Materials | publisher=Cambridge University Press | first1=Colin |last1=Turpin |first2=Adam |last2=Tomkins | year=2007 | pages=348| isbn=9781139465366 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine | url=http://www.macleans.ca/politics/the-queen-of-canada-is-dead-long-live-the-british-queen/ | title=The Queen of Canada is dead; long live the British Queen | magazine=Maclean's Magazine | date=3 February 2013 | accessdate=31 December 2015 | last=Lagassé |first=Philippe}}</ref> Although conceptually speaking, the office and officeholder retain dual capacities in that they may act both in a corporate capacity (as monarch) and in an individual capacity (as a private person), they are inseparably fused in law; there is no legal distinction between the office and the individual person who holds it.<ref name=Lagasse18>{{Harvnb|Lagassé|Bowden|2014|p=18}}</ref> The Crown (state) legally acts as a person when it enters into contracts and possesses property.<ref name="Blackstone">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jblCAAAAYAAJ&q=after+a+corporation+is+formed+and+named | title=Commentaries on the Laws of England |volume=1 | publisher=A. Strahan |first=William |last=Blackstone | year=1809 | location=London | pages=474–475}}</ref> 

The sovereign's status as a corporation sole ensures that all references to the king, the queen, His Majesty, Her Majesty, and the Crown are synonymous, referring to exactly the same legal personality over time,<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pSc5AQAAMAAJ&q=legal+person | title=Crown Law | publisher=Butterworths | last=Lordon |first=Paul | year=1991 | location=London | pages=4–5 | isbn=978-0409893861}}</ref> though the identity is in at least some cases also asserted by statute without reference to the concept of corporation sole.<ref>{{Cite canlaw |short title=Interpretation Act |abbr=RSC |year=1985 |chapter=I-21 |section=35 |link=https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/laws/stat/rsc-1985-c-i-21/latest/rsc-1985-c-i-21.html}}. "'''''Her Majesty''''', '''''His Majesty''''', '''''the Queen''''', '''''the King''''' or '''''the Crown''''' means the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, Canada and Her or His other Realms and Territories, and Head of the Commonwealth; {{lang|fr-CA|italic=unset|(''Sa Majesté'', ''la Reine'', ''le Roi'' ou ''la Couronne'')"}}.</ref><ref>{{cite legislation UK |type=act |act=Interpretation Act 1978 |year=1978 |chapter=30 |section=10 |mode=cs1 |quote=In any Act a reference to the Sovereign reigning at the time of the passing of the Act is to be construed, unless the contrary intention appears, as a reference to the Sovereign for the time being.}}</ref> While natural persons who serve as sovereign pass on, the sovereign never legally dies;<ref>{{cite book |title=[[Halsbury's Laws of England]] |edition=5th |chapter=Crown and Crown Proceedings |pages=8–9 |volume=29 |year=2014}}</ref> thus the corporate nature of the office of sovereign ensures that the authority of the state continues uninterrupted.<ref name=Lagasse1819>{{Harvnb|Lagassé|Bowden|2014|pp=18–19}}</ref> In other words, the sovereign is made a corporation sole to prevent the possibility of disruption or [[interregnum]], thereby preserving the stability of the Crown (state). For this reason, at the moment of the [[Demise of the Crown|demise of the sovereign]], a successor is immediately and automatically in place.<ref name=Blackstone469/><ref>{{Cite canlaw |short title=Interpretation Act |abbr=RSC |year=1985 |chapter=I-21 |section=46 |link=https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/laws/stat/rsc-1985-c-i-21/latest/rsc-1985-c-i-21.html}}.</ref>

As a corporation sole, the legal person of the sovereign is the personification of the state and consequently acts as a guarantor of the [[rule of law]] and the fount of all executive authority behind the state's institutions.<ref>{{cite CanLII |litigants=McAteer et al. v. Attorney General of Canada |year=2013 |court=onsc |num=5895 |juris=auto |courtname=auto}}</ref>

==Secular application in the United States==
Every state of the [[United States]] recognizes corporations sole under [[common law]], and about a third of the states have specific statutes that stipulate the conditions under which that state recognizes the corporations sole that are filed with that state for acquiring, holding, and disposing of title for church and religious society property.<ref>{{cite web |last1=O'Hara |first1=James B. |title=The Modern Corporation Sole (from 93 DICKINSON LAW REVIEW, FALL 1988) |url=http://corporationsole.hushmoney.org/moderncorporationsole.htm |accessdate=13 January 2019 |quote=of the states, with explicit statutory provisions for corporations sole in about a third}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=O'Hara |first1=James B. |title=The Modern Corporation Sole |journal=Dickinson Law Review |date=1988 |volume=93 |page=23ff |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/dlr93&div=9 |accessdate=13 January 2019}}</ref>

==Examples of corporations sole in the United Kingdom==
===Governmental===
* [[The Crown]] (sometimes regarded as a corporation aggregate)<ref name="law_commission">{{Cite web |url=http://lawcommission.justice.gov.uk/docs/cp143_Execution_of_Deeds_and_Documents_Consultation.pdf |title=The execution of deeds and documents by or on behalf of bodies corporate |access-date=2012-06-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120810125956/http://lawcommission.justice.gov.uk/docs/cp143_Execution_of_Deeds_and_Documents_Consultation.pdf |archive-date=2012-08-10 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*Administrator of Japanese Property (abolished<!--The following statutory instrument seems never to have been revoked, but the latest accounts for the Administrator are from 1965.-->)<ref>{{Cite legislation UK |type=si |si=The Japanese Treaty of Peace Order 1952 |year=1952 |number=862 |article=3}}</ref>
* [[Auditor General for Wales]]<ref>{{Cite legislation UK |type=act |year=2006 |chapter=32 |schedule=8 |paragraph=4 |act=Government of Wales Act 2006}}</ref>
* [[Chief Executive of Skills Funding]]<ref>{{Cite legislation UK |type=act |year=2009 |chapter=22 |schedule=4 |act=Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009}}</ref>
* [[Children's Commissioner for England]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dunford |first=John |date=1 November 2010 |title=Review of the Office of the Children’s Commissioner (England) |url=https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/Cm-7981.pdf |website=GOV.UK}}</ref>
* [[Children's Commissioner for Wales]]<ref>{{cite legislation UK |type=act |year=2000 |chapter=14 |schedule=2 |paragraph=1 | act=Care Standards Act 2000}}</ref>
* [[Commissioner for Older People for Northern Ireland]]<ref>{{Cite legislation Northern Ireland |type=act |year=2011 |number=1 |schedule=1 |title=Commissioner for Older People Act (Northern Ireland) 2011}}</ref>
* [[Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis]]
* [[Comptroller and Auditor General]]
*The Corporate Officer of the House of Commons<ref>{{Cite legislation UK |type=act |year=1992 |chapter=27 |section=2 |act=Parliamentary Corporate Bodies Act 1992}}</ref> and the Corporate Officer of the House of Lords,<ref>{{Cite legislation UK |type=act |year=1992 |chapter=27 |section=1 |act=Parliamentary Corporate Bodies Act 1992}}</ref> two corporations established by the Parliamentary Corporate Bodies Act 1992
* [[Duchy of Cornwall|Duke of Cornwall]] (inhabited by the Prince of Wales)
* [[Duchy of Lancaster|Duke of Lancaster]] (inhabited by the monarch)
* [[Information Commissioner's Office|Information Commissioner]]<ref>{{Cite legislation UK |type=act |act=Data Protection Act 2018 |year=2018 |chapter=12 |schedule=12 |paragraph=1}}</ref>
* [[Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime]] (London)
* [[Judicial Appointments and Conduct Ombudsman]]<ref name="law_commission"/>
* [[Lord Mayor of London]]<ref name="technical_manual" />
* [[Official Custodian for Charities]]<ref name="OG38">{{cite web |url=http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/about_us/ogs/g038a001.aspx#a3 |title=OG38 A1 – What is a corporation? |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120823084256/http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/About_us/OGs/g038a001.aspx#a3 |archive-date=2012-08-23 |publisher=[[Charity Commission]]}}</ref>
* [[Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner|Immigration Services Commissioner]]
* [[Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.policeombudsman.org/what-we-do/about-us|title=Learn about the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland|website=Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland}}</ref>
* [[Public Services Ombudsman for Wales]]
* [[Public Trustee]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.justice.gov.uk/protecting-the-vulnerable/public-trustee |title=Public Trustee |website=GOV.UK |publisher=Ministry of Justice}}</ref>
* [[Pubs Code Adjudicator]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/pubs-code-adjudicator|title = Pubs Code Adjudicator |website=GOV.UK | date=4 August 2023 }}</ref>
* [[Receiver for the Metropolitan Police District]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/24-25/124/section/1#|title=Metropolitan Police (Receiver) Act 1861: Section 1 |website=[[legislation.gov.uk]]|publisher=[[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]] |id=24 & 25 Vict c 124 (s. 1)}}</ref> (abolished)
* [[Registrar General]]
* many [[Secretary of State (United Kingdom)|secretaries of state in the United Kingdom]] (various; most recently Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs)<ref>{{cite legislation UK |type=si |year=2020 |number=942 |si=The Transfer of Functions (Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs) Order 2020 |article=3}}</ref>
* Solicitor for the affairs of the Duchy of Lancaster<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/10-11/51/section/3/enacted |title=Duchy of Lancaster Act 1920: Section 3 |website=[[legislation.gov.uk]]|publisher=[[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]] |id=10 & 11 Geo 5 c 51 (s. 3)}}</ref>
* [[Treasury Solicitor's Department|Treasury Solicitor]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/39-40/18/section/1#text=%22corporation+sole%22|title=Treasury Solicitor Act 1876: Section 1 |website=[[legislation.gov.uk]]|publisher=[[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]] |id=39 & 40 Vict c 18 (s. 1)}}</ref>
* [[London Fire Commissioner]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.london-fire.gov.uk/about-us/governance-london-fire-commissioner/|title=Governance - London Fire Commissioner|publisher=London Fire Brigade}}</ref>

===Private entities===
* [[Da'i al-Mutlaq]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://legislation.gov.uk/ukla/1993/10/enacted |title=Dawat-e-Hadiyah (England) Act 1993 |website=[[legislation.gov.uk]]|publisher=[[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]] |id=c. x}}</ref>

=== In the Church of England ===
* [[Archbishop of Canterbury]]<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=3 August 1832 |title=Ecclesiastical Corporations Act 1832 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Will4/2-3/80/enacted |website=[[legislation.gov.uk]]|publisher=[[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]] |id=2 & 3 Will 4 c. 80}}</ref>
* [[Archbishop of York]]<ref name=":1" />
* [[Bishop]]s of the Church of England<ref name="landregistry">{{cite web |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/execution-of-deeds/practice-guide-8-execution-of-deeds |title=Practice Guide 08 |publisher=Land Registry}}</ref><ref name="technical_manual" />
* [[Dean (Christianity)|Deans]] of the Church of England<ref name="technical_manual" />
* [[Rector (ecclesiastical)|Rectors]] and [[Team Rector]]s in the Church of England
* [[Vicar (Anglicanism)|Vicars]] in the Church of England<ref>{{Cite Hansard |url=https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debate/?id=2006-10-17b.813.6 |title=Clause 155 – Companies required to have at least one director who is a natural person |house=House of Commons |date=17 October 2006 |speaker=[[Margaret Hodge]] |position=Minister of State for Industry and the Regions |volume=450 |column=813 |via=TheyWorkForYou}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/1-2/23/section/16|title=Parsonages Act 1838: Section 16 |website=[[legislation.gov.uk]]|publisher=[[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]] |id=1 & 2 Vict c 23 (s. 16)}}</ref>

==Examples of corporations sole in New Zealand==
* [[Public Trust]]ee (until 2001)
* [[Māori Trustee]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oag.govt.nz/2004/maori-land-court/part4.htm|title=Part 4: Client Service Performance of the Māori Trustee|publisher=Office of the Auditor-General New Zealand|language=en-nz|access-date=2019-09-10}}</ref>
* [[Privacy Commissioner (New Zealand)|Privacy Commissioner]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 November 2014 |title=2014 Annual Report: A signal year for privacy law |url=https://www.privacy.org.nz/publications/statements-media-releases/2014-annual-report/ |access-date= |publisher=Privacy Commissioner}}</ref>

==Examples of corporations sole elsewhere==
* The [[Diocese of Hong Kong]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.elegislation.gov.hk/checkconfig/checkClientConfig.jsp?applicationId=RA001|title=Hong Kong e-Legislation|website=www.elegislation.gov.hk}}</ref>
* [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]], in the office of its [[Presiding Bishop (LDS Church)|Presiding Bishop]]<ref name=":0" />
* [[Director of National Parks]], Australian government<ref name="EBC-act">{{cite web |title=ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION AND BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION ACT 1999 - SECT 514A Continuation |url=http://www7.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/cth/num_act/npawca1975390/s15.html |publisher=Australian government |accessdate=10 July 2018}}</ref>
* [[Governor General of Canada]]<ref>[http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/G-9/page-1.html#docCont Governor General’s Act], <abbr>R.S.C.</abbr>, 1985, c. G-9, § 2.</ref>
* [[Irish Government|Minister of the Government]], [[Republic of Ireland]]
* [[Public Trustee]]
* The [[Archdiocese of Manila|Archbishop of Manila]]
* The [[Archdiocese of New York|Archbishop of New York]]
* [[monarchy of Canada|Office of the sovereign of Canada]]
* The Catholic Bishop of Chicago, A Corporation Sole- The Archdiocese of Chicago
* (Former) Administrator of the [[Southern Electricity Supply|Southern Electricity Supply of New South Wales]]

==See also==
{{wiktionary}}
* [[Legal person]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

[[Category:English law]]
[[Category:Corporations by type]]