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View the related practice notes about Pemsel's case

Scottish charity law—overview

FORTHCOMING CHANGE: The Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Act 2023 received Royal Assent on 9 August 2023 and came into force partly on 10 August 2023 and partly on 1 April 2024. Further commencements will take place on 1 October 2024 and the Act is due to come fully into force in 2025. This Practice Note may be updated further to reflect future commencements of this new legislation.Historical backgroundTrusts for charitable purposes, as a subset of the concept of public trusts in Scotland, may be considered the precursors to modern Scottish charities. The law on public trusts developed largely through a series of Court of Session cases in the nineteenth century, which built on earlier English law principles.The closest Scotland came to a formal definition of charitable purposes was the definition used in England and Wales for tax purposes set down in the case of Commissioners for Special Purposes of Income Tax v Pemsel which in turn relied upon the Statute of Charitable Uses (1601). The definition was reiterated for...