History
The first public authority on record is the Port of London Authority, established 1908. According to the Port of London Acts The Authority is a public trust established to "administer, preserve and improve the Port of London." The goal was to create an entity that would be run self-sufficiently like a private company yet remain under the control of the government. The name Authority is derived from the founding act of Parliament which repeatedly stated that "Authority is hereby given...."
The special status of this entity and the fact that it remained subject to administrative law was established by the UK courts in R v Port of London Authority: ex parte Kynoch 1 KB 176.
Read more about this topic: Public-benefit Corporation
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