The High Court has ruled that charities and good causes owed money by the online giving website CharityGiving, run by the Dove Trust, will be able to give evidence in court to argue how available funds should be distributed.

The High Court has said that any charity or good cause has until 23 April to serve evidence and anyone wishing to be heard at court has until 1 May to service notice to be joined to the proceedings.

Kenneth Dibble, chief legal adviser and head of legal services at the Charity Commission, said:
"I welcome this decision to give charities the opportunity to present their evidence to the court. We do not expect that all charities affected will wish to present evidence, but we know that some charities affected do have coherent legal arguments or evidence to support a certain approach to distributing the funds. I am confident that the substantive case will be heard soon, so that the available funds are distributed as early as possible."

The CharityGiving site was suspended in July 2013 as part of a Charity Commission investigation into the Dove Trust. The regulator is investigating serious concerns about the charity's governance and management.

Keith Colman, the founder of the Dove Trust, has appealed to the Charity Tribunal over issues relating to the Charity Commission's decision to shut down his organisation's donations website, CharityGiving.

Pesh Framjee, partner at Crowe Clark Whitehill, was appointed interim manager of the Dove Trust by the Charity Commision last year and its trustees were suspended. 

In December, Framjee concluded that there is, at present, around £500,000 available for an initial distribution to over 1,800 charities and good causes owed money by the Dove Trust. The Commission has been advised that, given the complexity of the charity and trust law issues involved, the court must decide on the fairest and most equitable approach to distributing currently available funds.