The Gazette 1991

GAZETTE

LY/AUGUST

1991

THE LAW OF OCCUPATIONAL

PENSION SCHEMES

[By Nigel Inglis-Jones Q C.

Publishers: Sweet & Maxwell

October 1989 Update October

1990 Lose leaf: £90.00 stg.]

I was asked to review this book

shortly before the publication of the

Pensions Bill 1990. The Pensions

Bill was signed into law on 24th

July 1990 but it was not until 1st

January 1991 that many of the

provisions giving legal effect to the

Pensions Act were brought into

being. The Pensions Act 1990 was

the first statutory enactment deal-

ing with pensions although Part VII

of the Act also deals with disability

schemes. In the United Kingdom

statutory requirements for occupa-

tional pension schemes are dealt

w i t h in Finance Acts, Social

Security Acts, Regulations etc. Irish

pensions law. is an amalgam of

common law principles and

statutory enactments i.e. the

Trustee Act 1893, Finance Act

1972 and the Pensions Act 1990.

I make the foregoing comments as

background to reviewing Mr. Nigel

Inglis-Jones Q.C/s book.

There are no Irish text books to

date on occupational pension

schemes. The author's book is

basically an English text book.

However, much of Irish general

trust law governing the duties of

trustees in Ireland derives from

English trust law. When reading

through the book I found it had all

the hallmarks of being written by a

lawyer who actually practises in

the field of pensions.

The book itself is in a loose leaf

format which is a practical way of

publishing books on areas of law

which are expanding all the time.

The last two years have seen a

tremendous growth in pension

litigation in the United Kingdom and

the publishing of the Update

October 1990 reflects this. The Up-

date October 1990 is a much fuller

volume than its predecessor. The

Update October 1990 now includes

references in the text to many

important decisions as such as

Icarus Limited -v- Driscoll

and the

European Court's decision in

Barber

-v- Guardian Royal Exchange.

The book is divided into five parts

sub-divided into sections. Part I

deals with the creation of a pension

scheme, Revenue approval and the

consequences of loss of such

approval. Naturally, as this is a UK

publication, this Part will not be of

particular relevance to Irish pension

lawyers but I found the section

dealing with the consequences of

loss of Revenue approval of interest

as it is something that one is often

asked by clients. I found the section

on interim trust deeds somewhat

sketchy. The October 1989 edition

dealt with announcement letters

and booklets in a very basic

manner. However, the Update

October 1990 has now an ex-

tended section w i th a good

paragraph on Estoppel on the basis

of the Booklet.

Part II deals with trustees and is

divided into eight sections covering

every aspect of trusteeship from

appointment and removal of

trustees, their duties, disclosure of

information, to protection of

trustees. All lawyers, be they

pension lawyers, barrieteFá and

solicitors with a chancery practice

or general practioners, will find this

part most useful and extremely

valuable as it brings together all of

the important areas which lawyers

have to deal with and advise on

with regard to pension schemes

and trusteeship. In spite of the

statutory requirements with regard

to trustees, as detailed in the

Pensions Act 1990, the common

law principles wi th regard to

trusteeship still apply. Naturally

again this part has to be read

bearing in mind the relevant Irish

legislation. I found Section 4

(Duties of Trustees) to be most

helpful as it was comprehensive in

the areas covered. I particularly

liked the way the author stitched in

to the text relevant extracts from

judgments to which he referred.

Section 5 will be read with interest

by all pension lawyers as it deals

with disclosure of information.

There is also a section dealing with

the powers of investment but this

section should be read taking into

account the fact that we do not

have a Financial Services Act

1986.

Part III of the book deals with

sections on actuaries, surpluses

and deficiencies, winding up of

pension schemes and sex discrimi-

nation in pension schemes. The

Update October 1990 takes into

account many UK cases dealing

with sex discrimination. This is one

of the few text books written by a

lawyer which outlines what an

actuary does and deals with certain

actuarial matters which are of

interest to lawyers and relevant to

pension schemes. This can be

easily read by lawyers who are not

familiar with pensions matters. The

section on sex discrimination now

deals with all the significant EC

Directives and cases both UK and

European which led up to

Barber -

v- Guardian Royal Exchange.

The

Update October 1990 reflects all

the litigation activity in pensions in

the intervening year since the book

was published.

There is a new Part IV in the

Update October 1990 containing a

set of precedents including draft

Trust Deeds and Rules. This is a

welcome addition. While the Rules

relate to UK occupational pension

Schemes the Definitive Trust Deed

and Interim Trust Deed checklist

will be of much assistance to Irish

Pension Lawyers.

Part V details transcripts from

significant UK pension cases and

relevant EC Directives. There is also

a full index and tables of cases and

statutes.

This work, particularly with

Update October 1990, is of interest

to both general practitioners and

pension lawyers. Undoubtedly Part

II dealing with Trustees is the

corner-stone of the book and this

is an area which a pension lawyer

will dip into when dealing with

various pension matters. The book

as a whole is an extremely useful

source book for general practi-

tioners who are coming to pensions

law with little background know-

(Contd. on p. 208)

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