RIP the Charity Tribunal
October 2009
Barely 18 months after its somewhat delayed inception, the Charity Tribunal ceased to exist as a separate entity from 1 September 2009...
...and transfers to the new General Regulatory Chamber (GRC) of the First-Tier Tribunal. This only has jurisdiction in respect of certain Charity Commission decisions made on or after 18 March 2008. The GRC can:
- Hear appeals against Charity Commissiondecisions
- Hear applications for review of decisions for the Charity Commission
- Consider references from the Attorney General or the Charity Commission on points of law.
According to Kevin Sadler, CEO of the Tribunals Service, the changes are designed to improve the efficiency of the tribunal process. Alison McKenna, charity tribunal president and principal judge, along with the other members of the tribunal have transferred to the new structure.
If a matter is not resolved at the first tier stage, the appeal will be passed on to the upper tribunal and then, if necessary, on to the Court of Appeal.Current cases include
Derek Maidment and Lennox Patrick Ryan v the Charity Commission with a full hearing booked for 26 to 30 October 2009 (
see also Caritas,
news review, September 2009, issue 22), and
Nagendram Seevaratnam v the Charity Commission (he is appealing his removal from post as trustee of a Hindu charity) which is awaiting a decision after a further hearing on 17 and 18 August 2009.
Author: Clarissa Dann
Clarissa Dann was the editor of Caritas as well as an HR and management online service,he People Bulletin until July 2011.
She is now the editor of the specialist trade finance magazine, Trade and Forfaiting Review which can be viewed at www.tfreview.com but does write on charity finance and investment from time to time.
Clarissa has a background in legal and professional publishing, as well as business journalism and holds an MBA from Cass Business School. She has been one of the judges for the non-profit category of the Chartered Institute of Marketing's Excellence in Marketing Awards for the second year running.
She has also acted as clerk to the trustees of a small almshouses charity and as a member nominated trustee to a pension scheme of a multinational publishing company.
Click here for other articles written by Clarissa Dann
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