Clubs - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition clubs

Definition :

Clubs, associations to which individuals subscribe for purposes of mutual entertainment and convenience; the affairs of which are generally conducted by a steward or secretary, who acts under the immediate superintendence of a committee. The members of an ordinary club, merely as such, are not liable for anything beyond their subscriptions, Wise v. Perpetual Trustee Co., 1903 AC 139. As to altering the rules of a club, see Thellusson v. Valentia, 1907 (2) Ch 1; and as to the expulsion of a member, see Baird v. Wells, (1890) 44 Ch D 661. Consult Wertheimer on Clubs; Leake on Contracts.

As to working men's club, sick clubs, etc., see FRIENDLY SOCIETIES, and especially s. 8 of the (English) Friendly Societies Act, 1896 (59 & 60 Vict. c. 25), and (English) Industrial Assurance and Friendly Societies Act, 1929 (19 & 20 Geo. 5, c. 28). Shop clubs are dealt with by the (English) Shop Clubs Act, 1902 (2 Edw. 7, c. 21), which prohibits compulsory membership of unregistered Shop Clubs or Thrift Funds, and regulates such as are duly registered. The expression 'shop club' or 'thrift fund' in that Act means, by s. 7, 'every club and society for providing benefits to workmen in connection with a workshop, factory, dock, shop, or warehouse.'

The sale of intoxicating liquor in clubs is regulated by a system of registration of the clubs under ss. 91 to 98 of the (English) Licensing (Consolidation) Act, 1910 (10 Edw. 7 & 1 Geo. 5, c. 24), by s. 91 of which the secretary of every club occupying premises habitually used for the purposes of a club, and in which any intoxicating liquor is supplied, must have the club registered with the clerk to the justices of the petty sessional division. The register must contain (inter alia) the rules of the club as to the election of members and the admission of temporary and honorary members and friends, the terms of subscription, the opening and closing hours, and the mode of altering the rules. No intoxicating liquor is to be supplied in an unregistered club, and a registered club may under certain circumstances be struck off the register by a Court of Summary Jurisdiction. See also the (English) Licensing Act, 1921 (11 & 12 Geo. 5, c. 42). A club within s. 4 of that Act means the premises of a registered club and not the association of persons who are members of the club, Upton and Another v. Cully, 1926 (2) KB 270.