The cy pres doctrine (pronounced as see-pray) is doctrine of the Court of equity. It allows the Court to settle a trust as near (Cy-prés) as possible to the original intention of the testator, where the original intended purpose is impossible, impracticable or illegal. This prevents the trust from failing. Doctrine, from Latin doctrina, (compare doctor), means a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the body of teachings in a branch of knowledge or belief system. ... A court is an official, public forum which a public power establishes by lawful authority to adjudicate disputes, and to dispense civil, labour, administrative and criminal justice under the law. ... This article is about concept of equity in Anglo-American jurisprudence. ... A court is an official, public forum which a public power establishes by lawful authority to adjudicate disputes, and to dispense civil, labour, administrative and criminal justice under the law. ... In common law legal systems, a trust is a relationship in which a person or entity (the trustee) has legal control over certain property (the trust property or trust corpus), but is bound by fiduciary duty to exercise that legal control for the benefit of someone else (the beneficiary), according... A testator is a person who has made a legally binding will or testament, which specifies what is to be done with that persons family and/or property after death. ...

In the United States, this doctrine is restricted to instances where property has been placed in trust for a charitable purpose, but the specified charity can not use the property. The court may then redirect the property in trust to a similar charity. Allegorical personification of Charity as a mother with three infants by Anthony van Dyck Charity is a term in Christian theology (one of the three theological virtues), meaning loving kindness towards others; it is held to be the ultimate perfection of the human spirit, because it is said to both...

Source, Dal Pont, Chalmers "Equity and Trusts in Australia", 3rd Ed, Lawbook Co. 2004 ISBN 0455219249