Registration and casework processing times: update

Unfortunately, the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland may take longer than usual when dealing with registration and casework applications. The timescale for organisations waiting to hear from the Commission to begin their registration application has also been extended to two months.

The timescales have increased primarily due to the loss of a few experienced members of staff and the ongoing impact of the Court of Appeal ruling of February 2020 in the case of McKee & Others v Charity Commission for Northern Ireland. As a result of the ruling, all registration and casework decisions must be made by Commissioners (known as a Schedule 1 committee).

The Commission is working to resolve this situation, however, this may take a number of months. Any further updates will be published on the Commission’s website here.

In the meantime, if there are special circumstances which mean your organisation is being disadvantaged due to waiting times you can contact us to request that we call your organisation forward to apply for registration early or deal with your application as a priority. The Commission may seek evidence of any such special circumstances, for example, a letter from a potential funder insisting on charity registration within a tight timeframe.