This section is new. Briefly, the position is that the Company Law Reform Committee expressed themselves in favour of a provision on these lines in paragraph 51 of their report. It is designed to get over some difficulties of interpretation which arise out of the use of the expressions " United Kingdom " and " British Possessions " in the existing section, Section 275 of the Act of 1908, which relates to the holding of land by foreign companies. In 1954, most of these difficulties were in fact removed by the repeal of the Mortmain Acts but it is considered desirable, nevertheless, that the position up to 1954 should be rectified now and that is what the section is intended to achieve.
SECTION 359.
Question proposed: " That Section 359 stand part of the Bill."
Is it clear that it does do it? In paragraph (b), the words " the State " are substituted for " the United Kingdom ".
Yes; the trouble was that " the United Kingdom " was never universally adapted.
Did you have to do this in any other type of legislation in similar circumstances?
I think there were specific adaptation provisions in an Act of 1923 about other Acts of Parliament. At one stage it was contemplated that something similar would be done for the law relating to companies but nobody ever got down to it.
Question put and agreed to.