Visit JCPCUKSC/2018/0150
•
BUSINESS, PROPERTY, WILLS, AND TRUSTS
Lehtimaki and others (Respondents) v Cooper (Appellant)
Case summary
Case ID
UKSC/2018/0150
Parties
Appellant(s)
Jamie Cooper
Respondent(s)
Dr Marko Lehtimaki
Children's Investment Fund Foundation (UK)
HM Attorney General
Sir Christopher Hohn
Issue
Does the court have jurisdiction to direct members of a charitable company on how to exercise their powers absent a breach of fiduciary duty?
Facts
The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation ("CIFF") is a charitable company with more than $4bn in assets helping children in developing countries. It was founded by Sir Christopher Hohn and Ms Jamie Cooper in 2002, but it became difficult to manage when their marriage broke down. These proceedings stem from the steps they took to resolve those difficulties. Specifically, they agreed that in exchange for a grant of $360 million to Big Win Philanthropy, a charity founded by Ms Cooper, she would resign as a member and trustee of CIFF.CIFF’s members had to approve this grant. CIFF has only three members, two of whom, namely Sir Christopher and Ms Cooper had to recuse themselves from the vote. Thus, only Dr Marko Lehtimaki can vote on the proposal.The Chancellor of the High Court held that the grant would be in CIFF’s best interests and ordered Dr Lehtimaki to vote for the resolution approving the grant.Dr Lehtimaki appealed against that order, and the Court of Appeal allowed the appeal holding that, in the absence of a breach of fiduciary duty, the court could not direct Dr Lehtimaki on how he should exercise his powers.
Date of issue
26 July 2018
Judgment appealed
Judgment details
Judgment date
29 July 2020
Neutral citation
[2020] UKSC 33
Judgment links
Judgment summary
29 July 2020
Appeal
Justices
Hearing dates
Full hearing
Start date
14 January 2020
End date
15 January 2020
Watch hearings
14 January 2020 - Morning session
14 January 2020 - Afternoon session
15 January 2020 - Morning session
15 January 2020 - Afternoon session
All videos on this page are recorded and transmitted in line with the Court's terms of use. These can be found here.. Please Note: Every effort is being made to provide a satisfactory streaming service of the Supreme Court judgments and hearings. However, these services may be subject to technical issues or delay, in which case we will attempt to resolve them as soon as possible.
Change log
Last updated 16 April 2024