The Visitor - Facilitation of Internal Dispute Resolution in Nonprofit Organisations

Abstract

One of the interesting boundaries in the law of nonprofit organisations is that where a court will intervene in a dispute concerning members of a voluntary organisation. The common law has traditionally been reluctant to provide a forum for disputing members of an association and adopts a basic policy of encouraging members to settle their disputes through the association’s own governance system. The rationales offered for this approach are a reluctance to interfere in private domestic bodies thereby infringing on the freedom of association, the perceived trivial nature of the issues, a lack of appropriate or effective judicial remedies and a possible opening of the floodgates of litigation. This is to be contrasted with the common law policy of voluntary association for profit such as a business partnership where the courts have less hesitation in resolving disputes between partners. There is increasing judicial activity where a voluntary association dispute involves economic or property issues which have a commercial nature such as the trade union, professional association or remunerated sporting association. A broad policy justification could be that such "commercial" associations share more in common with business associations and their disputes, so justifying judicial intervention.