An aid charity accused on the front page of The Sun of supporting Muslim fighters in Syria has appealed to the Charity Tribunal against a Charity Commission decision to open a statutory inquiry into its activities.

The appeal, by Michael Lloyd, a trustee of foreign aid charity Al-Fatiha Global, follows the Commission's decision to open an investigation into the charity on 21 March, shortly after The Sun ran a front-page story alleging a man it describes as the charity’s chief executive was in Syria supporting rebel fighters.

Adniel Ali, who the charity says was actually a volunteer, was shown in an image apparently embracing masked fighters brandishing AK47s. Al-Fatiha Global has denied any involvement in criminal activity or fighting.

In a statement released at the time the appeal was opened, the charity said: “While we understand the pressures the Charity Commission is under from the security services and the media to be seen to be clamping down on Muslim involvement in aid to Syria, we do not agree that a formal inquiry is the best way forward to address any issues identified.”

Ethiopian church inquiry closed

The Charity Commission has closed a statutory inquiry into a church charity, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church St Mary of Debre Tsion, following an appeal by the church to the Charity Tribunal.

The Commission opened a statutory inquiry on 31 March 2014 over what it described as “governance issues” and the church appealed to the first tier tribunal two weeks later.

Following the appeal, the Commission withdrew its inquiry.

The Commission said in a statement that as part of its inquiry, it had reviewed an action plan it set out for trustees, and had reviewed their compliace with it. It also reviewed the information set out in the appeal.

The Commission said in a statement that it has "accepted that it needs to reconsider its initial interpretation of the governing document", and had decided it required further clarification from the trustees before continuing with the inquiry.

“Because further clarification is required in order for the Commission to satisfy itself on the proper interpretation of the governing document, we closed the inquiry on 12 May 2014," the Commission said.

However the Commission is still investigating the charity, and an operational case, a less serious type of investigation, remains open.

“There continue to be serious regulatory issues that need to be resolved, including the regularising of the charity’s governance,” the Commission said. “The Commission is of the view that it has jurisdiction over these matters, and we are now considering what regulatory action, if any, is needed”.

Bath Rec trustees granted permission to appeal

The First-Tier Tribunal has granted the Bath Recreation Ground Trust permission to appeal to the Upper Tribunal against a decision which replaced the trustees of the charity with an independent board.

In March the Tribunal ruled that the Charity Commission was right to order the charity to replace its board with independent trustees, but made substantial amendments to the scheme governing.

The scheme includes replacing the local authority, Bath and North East Somerset Council, with a new independent body of trustees. However the existing trustees have appealed, saying the decision would be “financially disadvantageous”.

A judgment handed down on 8 May by judge Peter Hinchcliffe gave the trustees leave to appeal to the Upper Tribunal.

Regentford Limited appeal dismissed

The First-Tier Tribunal has dismissed an appeal by Regentford Limited, an orthodox Jewish charity which had asked to be removed from the register of charities, but had been refused permission by the Charity Commission.

The charity shut down in 2010 and was removed from the register at the time. But in 2011 it asked to be restored to the register of companies in order to carry out legal action. The Charity Commission wrote to the charity saying that if it was once again operational it should be restored to the register of charities as well.

Regentford appealed this decision to the Tribunal on the grounds that it had no income and was not operating. However the Tribunal ruled that while it had limited activity, the fact it was capable of carrying out legal action meant it was operational, and the Commission was not required to remove it.

Legal Action did not make “valid appeal”

Legal aid charity Legal Action, which the Charity Commission is engaging with “on a number of governance issues” made an attempt to appeal to the Charity Tribunal but was told its attempt was not a “valid appeal”.

The case has now been removed from the Tribunal register. Neither the Charity Commission nor the charity have revealed the reasons for the attempted appeal.

Legal Action, which has an income of £134,000, is also known as Charles Henry.

The charity is distinct from the Legal Action Group, another legal aid charity.