Decisions which are not being reinstated by the new Act
The Commission recognises that, in order to protect human rights, certain categories of decisions have been excluded from the retrospective element of the Act.
This includes decisions which are the subject of ongoing litigation or were taken under certain sections of the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008.
This affects around 250 decisions, which will remain unlawful, to ensure that individuals’ rights under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) are protected.
The following decisions, made prior to the end of May 2019, are not affected by the new Act and will remain unlawful:
|
Section of the Act |
Type of decision |
|
Section 22(3) |
direction to provide documents |
|
Section 22(4) |
administering an oath, or requiring the making and subscription of a declaration of truth |
|
Section 22(6) |
the publication of a statutory inquiry report |
|
Section s23(1) |
order to provide information and documentation |
|
Section 24(1) |
disclosure of information |
|
Section 33 |
order to suspend trustee, charity trustee. officer, agent or employee, order not to part with property, order restricting transactions, order appointing an interim manager, order to remove a trustee, charity trustee. officer, agent or employee, order appointing additional trustees. |
|
section 34 (3) |
order terminating the membership of a charity of a person who has been removed by order from office or employment under section 33, and prohibiting that person from resuming membership of the charity without the Commission’s consent. |
|
section 36 |
order to take specific action |
What about any decisions ‘re-made’ by Commissioners after May 2019?
A small number of decisions were ‘re-made’ by Commissioners in circumstances where it was considered urgent for the charity to have certainty, or to allow other essential charity transactions to proceed. These ‘fresh decisions’ are also outside the scope of the Act as they are already considered to be lawful.
The date of these decisions will be the latest date, when the decision was made by Commissioners and not the original decision date. If you were affected by these decisions you will retain the appeal rights provided within the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008. Under this, an appeal must be brought within 42 days from when the decision was sent to you (if applicable) or published. As the time limit for bringing such appeals will have expired, an extension of the time limit must be granted by the Charity Tribunal, before such an appeal can be brought.
The Act also will not change the outcome of court or tribunal proceedings which were decided before the day on which the Act received Royal Assent, bringing further certainty to any charity that has been involved in such proceedings.