Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Table of Cases
- Table of Statutes
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Essential indicia of charitable status
- 3 The powers of the Commission to remove charities from the register
- 4 Limits on the Commission's powers to remove controversial charities from the register
- 5 Property
- 6 The Commission's powers of investigation and the use of those powers to remove charities from the register
- 7 How the Commission's powers to remove charities from the register may be affected by changes to the law of charitable status
- 8 Grounds for appeal
- 9 Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
7 - How the Commission's powers to remove charities from the register may be affected by changes to the law of charitable status
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 July 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Table of Cases
- Table of Statutes
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Essential indicia of charitable status
- 3 The powers of the Commission to remove charities from the register
- 4 Limits on the Commission's powers to remove controversial charities from the register
- 5 Property
- 6 The Commission's powers of investigation and the use of those powers to remove charities from the register
- 7 How the Commission's powers to remove charities from the register may be affected by changes to the law of charitable status
- 8 Grounds for appeal
- 9 Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Introduction
This chapter examines the effect of the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Charities Act 2006 on the Commission's powers to remove charities from the register.
The Human Rights Act 1998 could restrict the ability of the Commission to remove institutions. As public authorities, both the court and the Commission have a duty to exercise their powers in conformity with the Human Rights Act 1998. It is a basic proposition of this book that there is a problem of legality with the Commission deciding that an institution is not a charity and removing it from the register. It has been shown that there are so few decisions of the court determining what is charitable in law that the Commission is forced into becoming a de facto lawmaker. It has already been shown that, in practice, the Commission often has to second-guess what the court would decide if faced with the same facts. Following the Human Rights Act 1998, if the Commission does second-guess the court, it will need to take into account that the court would interpret charity law in accordance with Convention rights.
When exercising its power of removal, under section 3(4) Charities Act 1993, to remove an institution on the ground that the Commission no longer considers it to be a charity the Commission will need to consider Convention rights which are potentially relevant to all charities, namely Article 1, Protocol 1: Right to Property and Article 14: Freedom from Discrimination in Respect of Convention Rights; and specific Convention rights, namely Article 9: Freedom of Thought, Conscience and Religion; Article 2, Protocol 1: Right to Education, and Article 10: Freedom of Expression, which are potentially relevant to particular categories of charity.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Law of Charitable StatusMaintenance and Removal, pp. 126 - 170Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008