Time To Tackle Legal Liabilities Of Unincorporated Sporting Associations

• Law Firm: RDJ LLP
• Subject Matter: Corporate/Commercial Law, Corporate and Company Law
• Author: Ms Marie Gavin
• Published date: 10 April 2023

Unincorporated associations have been common in Ireland for many years, particularly in the sports sector and the chances are that you or one of your family or friends are a present member of one. However, the legal status of these associations has long been a source of uncertainty. Unincorporated associations are voluntary and non-profit groups or clubs formed by individuals with a shared non-commercial and lawful objective such as the pursuit of sport, community interest or volunteering. The Law Reform Commission (LRC) is currently conducting a consultation process into the liability of unincorporated associations under the law. The LRC consultation paper was published in December 2022 and invites submissions from interested parties until May 2023 (extended from March 15^th due to public interest ). The LRC consultation paper outlines a number of the legal issues relating to unincorporated associations in Ireland and invites submissions from interested parties regarding possible changes to the law. The LRC is expected to publish its final report next year which will include recommendations for changes to the law for the consideration of the Oireachtas.

Current position - Hitting the Post

Contract Law

In Ireland, unincorporated associations are not legal entities and as such, do not have separate legal personality. This means that they cannot sue or be sued, enter into contracts or own property. Often the assets of an unincorporated association are owned by trustees, being persons appointed by the members to hold property on trust for the association.

The lack of separate legal personality can present many difficulties given that unincorporated associations still need to buy things, employ people and obtain financing, all of which require the entry into of a contract. Given that an unincorporated association cannot enter into a contract in its own right, a member or members of the association (or sometimes the trustees) will often enter into a contract on behalf of the association. Often, it may appear on the face of a contract that it has been entered into by the association itself when it is in fact a contract entered into between the relevant party and one member or all members of the association. This is unsatisfactory for both the member(s) entering into the contract and the parties who want to contract with the association as it creates uncertainty as to who is liable if the contract is breached.

Given that an unincorporated association cannot sue or be sued, a litigant will need to decide the relevant parties to take a case against. Depending on the circumstances, this may be the members of the management committee of the unincorporated association, the trustees...