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Charity Tribunal finally opens for business

Finance | Gemma Ware | 18 Mar 2008

Charities now have an affordable route to appeal Charity Commission decisions thanks to yesterday’s launch of the Charity Tribunal.

Until now, charities that wanted to appeal against decisions made by the Commission have only been able to do so in the High Court. The Charity Tribunal had been due to launch on 27 February but was delayed for administrative reasons.

Only one member of the new Tribunal has so far been appointed, its president Alison McKenna, head of the charities team at lawyers Wilsons (pictured). She will be able to process cases on her own if necessary but there are not expected to be any oral hearings of the Tribunal until the summer.

There are no cases queuing up to be heard by the Tribunal, as it can only hear appeals on decisions made by the Commission from yesterday onwards. It is expected to hear up to 50 cases a year.

McKenna said the Tribunal would provide an easier and cheaper route for charities to challenge Commission decisions. “It will be unique among the Tribunals Service tribunals as it will also have the power to consider questions of charity law referred to it by either the Attorney General or the Charity Commission. The Attorney General will also be able to intervene in any case to argue in the interests of the general public.”

A spokeswoman for the Tribunals Service said it was expecting the five legal members of the Tribunal to be announced in the spring and the seven non-legal members in the summer. They are being recruited by the Judicial Appointments Commission and will be appointed by the Lord Chancellor, Jack Straw. 

Dame Suzi Leather, chair of the Charity Commission, welcomed the Charity Tribunal as “an important milestone for the third sector”.

“The Commission is an open and transparent regulator and we work hard to ensure that our decisions are right. Where a charity wishes to appeal against one of our decisions, it is important that they can do so without the cost and complexity of going to the High Court,” she said.

The launch of the Tribunal comes as charities minister, Phil Hope, published a commencement order bringing into force a number of sections of the Charities Act 2006.

It includes the part of the Act that removes the restrictions on charities paying trustees for goods and services, such as a trustee who is roofer being able to fix a roof for the right price.

The Commission will now also have new powers to intervene in charities where it believes misconduct or mismanagement has taken place. In the past it could only remove the charity’s board and appoint interim managers, but now the Commission will be able to give specific directions to protect charity property or give advice and guidance.

The order also introduces more flexibility for charities to change their charitable purposes over time, and to deal with charitable donations that were raised for a particular appeal but cannot be used as they were intended.

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