ultra vires

An act is ultra vires when the person or body doing it has no power to do it under the law that creates or governs it. In company law, a company cannot act beyond the objects in its memorandum; Ashbury Railway Carriage v. Riche (House of Lords, 1875) held such acts void and incapable of ratification even by all the shareholders. In administrative law, delegated legislation or executive action beyond the parent Act, or contrary to the Constitution, is ultra vires and void.

Ultra vires may be substantive (no power at all) or procedural (power exercised without the required procedure). Its opposite is intra vires. A law outside the legislature's competence under the Seventh Schedule is also called ultra vires.

Example

The rule framed by the Board, which created a penalty not authorised by the parent Act, was struck down as ultra vires.

In Indian law

• Section 4(1)(c), Companies Act, 2013 (objects in the memorandum)
• Ashbury Railway Carriage and Iron Co. v. Riche (House of Lords, 1875)

See also

intra vires · delegated legislation · memorandum of association · judicial review

Read more in the study notes

• Memorandum of association and the doctrine of ultra vires (Company Law)
• Control of delegated legislation: parliamentary, procedural and judicial (Administrative Law)
• Public corporations and public undertakings: status, classification, liability and control (Administrative Law)
• Kinds of accounts, opening an account, and special classes of customers (Banking Law)
• Jurisdiction of civil courts and suits of a civil nature (section 9) (Civil Procedure Code and Limitation Act)
• Articles of association and the binding force of the memorandum and articles (Company Law)