N Ireland charity commission staff did not have power to investigate charities
Howard Lake | 10 June 2019 | News
The High Court in Belfast has held that the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland (CCNI) cannot lawfully delegate its decision making functions to its staff acting alone.
The High Court was dealing with three appeals all of which raised the same question of law, namely whether the functions attributed to CCNI by the provisions of the Charity Act (Northern Ireland) can lawfully be discharged by employees of CCNI acting alone.
It is not clear yet what impact this potentially far reaching decision will have on previous cases involving charities investigated by the CCNI since it was established. CCNI was established as a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Communities and became operational from 1 June 2009. Seven part-time Commissioners have been appointed.
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Comparing the law in Northern Ireland to that in England and Wales, the Court said that the staff of the English commission can lawfully discharge their duties because the act establishing the Commission in England and Wales made a number of specific provisions in respect of staff. CCNI’s power to regulate its own proceedings are not specifically provided for in the 2008 Act, the Court ruled.
Referring to the definitions of “to regulate” and “to delegate”, Madam Justice McBride said she was satisfied that the powers given to the CCNI “to regulate” its own procedures do not give the CCNI an express power “to delegate” any of its decision making functions to staff.
CCNI and the Department for Communities, who joined CCNI in the case, submitted that in the event that the court found that the 2008 Act did not make express provision for delegation of functions to staff, the court should find there was implied delegation.
Madam Justice McBride said that the 2008 Act did not grant the CCNI an express power to delegate to staff and that there is no implied power of delegation.
CCNI can appeal the decision.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.