Fourteenth International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society

Abstract

Undue influence has proven a troubling area of private English law for decades. More recently, Lord Briggs observed in the Privy Council decision of Nature Resorts Ltd v First Citizens Bank Ltd [2022] that the treatment of irrebuttable presumptions of influence raises “difficult questions.” This paper elaborates on this view of undue influence by considering the private law vitiating doctrine in the contexts of spiritual and cultural influence. It examines religious and spiritual influence cases, where presumptions of influence applied automatically. I identify an omission in temporal reasoning, subsequently questioning why gifts are not severed from presumptions where evidence contradicts that the defendant’s influence consistently motivated challenged gifts. The analysis provides a novel reason why the use of status-based presumptions of influence are often unjustifiable. I anticipate the counterclaim that adequate limits are imposed on when presumptions of undue influence are perfected by the requirement that a transaction ‘calls for an explanation.’ However, I discuss how this can offer little comfort for defendants in spiritual or cultural cases of undue influence since the requirement can prove unprincipled and it is generally applied without vigor by courts. The papers ends by proposing how these challenges could be dealt with by courts, largely through developing enhanced literacy on spiritual and cultural norms of the defendants in cases or through the use of cultural expertise from expert witnesses.