07/05/2020
Common law organisation (universitas)
*Under common law, an organization can be lawfully constituted without any registration where members agree to pursue and achieve common objectives and adopt a Constitution to govern them.
*The legal nature of an association, and whether it is a universitas, is determined by its constitution.
*A universitas will come into being if the individuals who propose forming it have the serious intention to associate and are in agreement on the essential characteristics and objectives of the universitas or unincorporated association. The latter aspect is usually manifested by the approval and adoption of a constithtion.
*An universitas personarum in Roman-Dutch law is a legal fiction, an aggregation of individuals forming a persona or entity, having the capacity of acquiring rights and incurring obligations to a great extent as a human being. An universitas is distinguished from a mere association of individuals by the fact that it is an entity distinct from the individuals forming it, that its capacity to acquire rights or incur obligations is distinct from that of its members, which are acquired or incurred for the body as a whole, and not for the individual members.
*In the case of a universitas or collegium or a church the intention is that the association shall continue forever and that it shall carry out the purposes of its founder or founders.“•a universitas, being a legal persona in its own right, has the capacity to own property in its own name, enter into contracts in its own name, and can sue or be sued in its own name, and will continue in existence, notwithstanding changes in its membership, as members join or leave the organisation.
