Response to Law Commission Consultation on Review of the Friendly Societies Acts 1974 and 1992

We support the reform of the law relating to friendly societies and generally agree with the Law Commission’s proposals in the Consultation Paper, which we expect would have a positive impact. As a general observation, we think it would be helpful to raise awareness among stakeholders and the public about what friendly societies are and what they do, as well as about how they differ from, e.g., co-operative and community benefit societies and community interest companies. The law relating to friendly societies should be aligned as far as possible with the law relating to cooperative and community benefit societies and other entities, with differences adopted only where the nature of friendly societies or other appropriate reasons justify them. For our response to the recent consultation on co-operative and community benefit societies, please https://www.abdn.ac.uk/law/research/centres/centre-for-scots-law/law-reform--public-policyengagement/#panel73374. see Given the applicability of the legislation to the UK, we would recommend seeking input from the Scottish Law Commission and the Northern Ireland Law Commission. We have confined our detailed responses to the handful of questions below, which most closely correspond with our areas of expertise.