NEWS: The Warburg Institute, London. Statement on High Court Proceedings.
The University of London is the trustee of the Warburg Institute, and holds it on charitable trust pursuant to the terms of a 1944 Trust Deed, a copy of which is publicly available to view on the Warburg Institute’s website.
The University issued proceedings to seek clarification from the High Court of what the trust comprises, what its obligations as trustee are, and whether its conduct (including in relation to the Institute’s finances and funding) is and has been in accordance with the provisions of the Trust Deed.
The 10 day trial of the matter, between the University of London, HM Attorney General and the Advisory Council of the Warburg Institute, concluded in London last week. The parties are now awaiting judgment, sometime in the autumn.
The Advisory Council of the Warburg Institute is very grateful for the immense support it has received and continues to receive related to this matter. However, respecting entirely the Court process, it does not consider it appropriate to make any comment at this time, save where considered necessary to correct any misinformation published.
The Advisory Council was concerned to read the article by Nick Clark of The Independent published on 25 June (click here), which contained several inaccuracies. In particular, it is not correct that the Warburg wants “the collection” to be entirely independent and to be free to move it should it so desire, or that the Advisory Council wants to change the way in which the library is arranged including the loss of the Institute’s “open stack” arrangements, which are of course at the very heart of the Institute.
To be clear, the Advisory Council simply wants the terms of the trust deed respected and adhered to, which includes preserving the Institute and its unique, world class library.