Charity proceedings Definition

GLOSSARY

What does Charity proceedings mean?

Proceedings in any court in England or Wales brought under the court's jurisdiction with respect to charities, or brought under the court's jurisdiction with respect to trusts in relation to the administration of a trust for charitable purposes (Charities Act 2011, s 115(8)).

Charity proceedings relating to a charity, other than those brought by the Charity Commission or the Attorney General, are not to be entertained or proceeded with in any court unless the taking of the proceedings is authorised by order of the Charity Commission. If refused, leave to take the proceedings may be obtained from a judge of the Chancery Division.

View the related practice notes about Charity proceedings

Charity litigation key case—HM Attorney General v Zedra Fiduciary Services [Archived]

Charity litigation key case—HM Attorney General v Zedra Fiduciary Services [Archived] ARCHIVED: This Charity litigation key case has been archived and is not maintained. The case of HM Attorney General v Zedra Fiduciary Services provides a practical illustration of: • the court’s approach to construing the meaning of a charitable trust • the court’s initial consideration of different types of schemes • procedural points relevant to charity litigation of this nature See News Analysis, which includes a case summary: National debt fund worth £500m is held on charitable trusts (Attorney General v Zedra Fiduciary Services). Key facts In 1928 a donor settled an initial sum of £500,000 plus income and profits to be held on trust until the date when—either alone or together with other funds available for the purpose—the fund was sufficient to discharge the national debt of the UK. The belief in 1928 was that the cost of the First World War should be borne by the current generation rather than being passed on...

Charity litigation key case—Quan v Bray [Archived]

Charity litigation key case—Quan v Bray [Archived] ARCHIVED: This Charity litigation key case has been archived and is not maintained. Key facts A husband (H) and wife (W) had been passionate about preserving Chinese tigers, a highly endangered species. In line with recent trends in the philanthropic sector, they had used the wealth generated by H to set up a single-issue cross-border philanthropic venture with this objective as the aim. In 2000, H and W established a UK charity called Save China's Tigers UK (SCT UK), and then in 2002 a Mauritian trust was established called Chinese Tigers South Africa Trust (CTSAT). SCT UK became the sole beneficiary of CTSAT, and CTSAT came to have assets of £25m deriving from H’s work. H was the settlor of CTSAT and the initial protector. By the time of the financial remedy proceedings, H was not the protector and H and W had been irrevocably excluded from becoming beneficiaries. There was a professional trustee. Although the terms of CTSAT were described...

Discover our 8 Practice Notes on Charity proceedings

We need to issue proceedings against a private school which is a charitable trust. Do we need to name all the trustees and provide each of their addresses on the Claim Form?

We need to issue proceedings against a private school which is a charitable trust. Do we need to name all the trustees and provide each of their addresses on the Claim Form? Charities may be involved in ‘charity proceedings’, or alternatively may be sued like any other individual or institution. Charity proceedings are defined by section 115(8) of the Charities Act 2011 (CA 2011), as those brought under: • the court's jurisdiction with respect to charities, or • the court's jurisdiction with respect to trusts in relation to the administration of a trust for charitable purposes Such claims are those which relate to the administration of charities, such as applications for schemes, applications for Beddoe Orders (the Court’s approval of a step taken by a charity, for costs protection), claims in respect of breach of trust or claims by trustees for indemnities out of their trust funds. Charity proceedings may only be brought by parties specified in that Act, and the Attorney-General is usually made a party...

Under a scheme made by the Charity Commission to appoint a sole corporate trustee of a non-incorporated charity, will land held by the trustees of the charity automatically vest in the corporate trustee? If so, does that apply to leasehold land where landlord’s consent is required for an assignment of the lease?

Under a scheme made by the Charity Commission to appoint a sole corporate trustee of a non-incorporated charity, will land held by the trustees of the charity automatically vest in the corporate trustee? If so, does that apply to leasehold land where landlord’s consent is required for an assignment of the lease? We are not aware of a specific authority which provides that the creation of a scheme to appoint a trustee by the Charity Commission will act as a vesting order. In many cases, the trustees or those responsible for appointing new trustees will have the power to do so through the provisions of the governing document. If this is not the case, there may be powers of amendment available to the trustees to change the governing document to allow them to appoint. Where neither of these powers is available, however, then the Charity Commission may need to become involved in the process of appointment and make an Order or a Scheme. Section 69 of the...

See the 3 Q&As about Charity proceedings

Private Client weekly highlights—26 August 2021

This week’s edition of Private Client highlights includes; (1) consultation by the Ministry of Justice about the new probate fee increases, (2) analysis of the draft Finance Bill 2022 clauses published on 20 July 2021 in relation to tax avoidance and recent updates to the tax avoidance regime and (3) warnings from professional bodies about the proposed change to the basis periods of income tax and making tax digital.

Private Client weekly highlights—27 May 2021

This week’s edition of Private Client highlights includes: (1) Further updates on the Probate Service; (2) Jaffer v Jaffer, in which the High Court confirmed that members of unincorporated charities may be fiduciaries; (3) Re R (Deceased), where the court held that despite a near-total breakdown in contact between a father and his sons, the father still bore a continuing responsibility for their maintenance; (4) Tenconi v HMRC, in which the FTT held that guarantee rights in a company are not shares; (5) Hobson v Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which considered under what circumstances a disqualified director could continue to act as a director; (6) A Mental Health Trust v ER, in which the Court of Protection was asked to determine whether ER had litigation capacity and capacity to make decisions about treatment for anorexia, and (7) Matthew v Sedman, a decision of the Supreme Court which held that if a cause of action accrues at midnight, the first day of the limitation period starts...

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