# Doctrine of Constructive Notice
## Meaning
Once the Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association of a company are registered with the Registrar of Companies, they become public documents. They are open to inspection by any person on payment of a nominal fee.
As a consequence, every person dealing with the company is presumed by law to have:
- read these documents, and
- understood their true meaning and contents.
This presumption applies whether or not the person has actually read them — hence the name 'constructive' notice.
## Purpose
- The doctrine protects the company against outsiders.
- If a person enters into a transaction with the company that is contrary to or beyond what the MOA/AOA permit, the person cannot plead ignorance.
- The company can avoid such transactions, and the outsider has no remedy because he is deemed to have known the limitations.
## A 'Dark Cloud' for Outsiders
The doctrine is often described as operating like a dark cloud over outsiders — it casts the burden of knowledge of the company's public documents on them, and limits their ability to claim relief based on ignorance of those documents.
## Relation to Indoor Management
The doctrine of constructive notice is softened by the doctrine of indoor management. While constructive notice protects the company, indoor management protects the outsider by limiting how far the outsider is expected to enquire into the company's internal procedures.