Charities Flashcards
Charity definition
Defined under s. 1 Charities Act 2011
- an institution which is established for charitable purposes only.
A charitable purpose
One that falls within s. 3 and which is for the public benefit.
Poverty
A relative concept (Re Clarke)
Includes ‘going short’ (Re Coulthurst)
Being in ‘needy circumstances’ (Re Cohen)
The poor do not mean necessarily destitute - reduced circumstances suffice
Re Colthurst
Working Class is not poor
Re Sanders’ Trust
Poverty can be proved from additional evidence and does not have to be proved form the trust instrument itself.
e.g. a working mens hostel may suffice to imply those in need.
Re Niyazi’s Will Trust
Charities must aim to prevent/ relieve poverty throughout society to poor persons in general - an institution that only targeted specific poor persons would instead be a private trust
Re Scarisbrick
- Relief is equated with need (IRC v Bakkeley)
Relief of poverty cannot typically be for amusement purposes
Joseph Rowntree v Att Gen
It is acceptable for a charity to relief poverty among a class of people the distinguishing feature of which is that they are descended from a common ancestor or had the same employer
Dingle v Turner
e.g. only to provide for former military service personnel
To form and to maintain a choir was educational
Royal Choral Society v IRC
The improvement of a useful branch of a human knowledge and its public dissemination was educational
Council of law reporting v Att-Gen
A chess tournament was deemed educational
Re Dupree’s Deed Trust
A Rose Garden was deemed educational
McGrath v Cohen
A school for pickpockets and prostitutes was not deemed educational
Re Hummeltenberg
‘Worthless Junk’ put together was not educational
Re Pinion
Only research which is intended to inform rathe than persuade and which satisfied the test of it being useful and disseminated to others
(Re Shaw)
Mc Govern Test
Research into a 40 letter alphabet was not educational research
Shaw Will Trust
Research into the Bacon-Shakespeare dispute was not educational research
Hopkins WT
Education of a small class of beneficiaries will not be charitable
Re Compton
Education of a large class of people will only be charitable if it passes the personal nexus test
A class which only consists of persons descended from a common ancestor or who had a common employer will not suffice (Oppenheim)
Definition of Advancement of Religion
The courts will not define what exactly counts as religion (Neville v Madden)
The court will allow a wide definition that can include unusual practices (Thornton v Howe)
Courts did not allow religions of
The Gnostic Foundation
The Druid Foundation
Trusts for purposes related to the advancement of religion can be charitable, e.g. trust funds to maintain and repair churches
Re King
Trusts for the promotion of ethics alone will not usually qualify under advancement of religion
Re South Place Ethical Society
A religious charity should not have an ulterior motive
It should be ‘wholly and exclusively charitable’ (Dunne v Bryne)
Charities for the advancement of religion should also be open to the public
A trust for a small group of cloistered nuns is not charitable (Gilmour v Coats)
A trust for a public synagogue is (Neville v Madden)
Advancement of Health or saving lives
Gift to the RNLA (Thomas v Howell)
Not a hospital that excludes the poor (Re Resch’s Will’s Trust)
Advancement of citizenship or community development
IRC v Oldham Training and Enterprise Council
- skills training for people in the Oldham area
Advancement or Arts, Culture, Heritage or science
Trust for the National Trust (Re Verall)
Atrociously bad art was not a trust (Re Pinion)
Advancement of Amateur Sport
Promotion of Squash Courts (Mariette)
Not the promotion of Yachting in general (Re Nottage)
Advancement of Animal Welfare
Protection and benefit of animals (Re Wedgewood)
Providing a refuge for animals - no public benefit (Re Grove-Grady)
Adult Education was not charitable - aimed at members of the Labour Party
Re Hopkinson
Trusts for political purposes are not charitable
Re Bushnell
Public Benefit
S. 4 Charities Act
Two Aspects:
- The benefit
- The Public
PB: The Benefit
- A purpose must be beneficial
- Any detriment or harm that results from the purpose must not outweigh the benefit
- Determined on the basis of evidence unless clearly beneficial
PB: The Public
A purpose must benefit the public in general, or a sufficient aspect of the public (Re Scarisbrick)
Public in general
All of the public can benefit
Sufficient Section
Public class of people; no minimum number set
Sufficient section: acceptable
People living in a geographical area
A group of people defined by ‘protected characteristics’ e.g. Age, disability, gender etc
NOT
- by reference to skin colour,
- reference to a family relationship
- employment relationship
- membership of an unincorporated association.
Charities must not define their benefiicairies by reference to
- A purpose which excludes people
- Confined to a closed religious organisation
- A purpose where all beneficiaries are named
- The number of people who can benefit is negligable
- A purpose which defines beneficiaries in a capricious manner
- Any private benefits must be incidental
The trust must be wholly and exclusively charitable
Chichester Diocesan Board v Simpson
- charitable or benevolent objects in England as they should select
Cy-Pres doctrine
allows the wishes fo the donor to charity to be carried out even if the original purpose fo the gift has failed
This is done by applying the property to a new purpose, which should be close as possible to the original purpose.
The Cy-Pres doctrine is available when
- the purpose cannot be fulfilled
- the purposes have already provided for sufficeintly (Letptons Charity Ambler)
- Initial or subsequent failure
Initial failure of a trust for Cy-Pres
- you must establish a general charitable intention before cy-pres can apply.
Re Harwood - Belfast Peace Society
Subsequent Failure
- no need for a general charitable intention
Re Slevin - money to an orphanage that subsequently closed down
Charitable trusts are always for a purpose
Moggridge v Thackwell
A gift to ‘worthy causes’ held not to be limited to exclusively charitable purposes
Re Coxen
A gift to ‘charitable AND benevolent purposes’ was deemed chartiable by the court
Re Best
- c.f. ‘charitable OR benevolent purposes’ (Re MacDuff)
