The following terms are used in this guide, and should be understood as having the specific meanings given below: The Charities Act: the Charities Act 2011. Charity trustees: the people who serve on the governing body of a charity. They may be known as trustees, directors, board members, governors or committee members. Charity trustees are responsible for the general control and management of the administration of a charity. Governing document: a legal document setting out a charity’s purposes and, usually, how it is to be administered. It may be a trust deed, constitution, articles of association, will, conveyance, Royal Charter, scheme of the Charity Commission, or other formal document. High Court: the principal civil court of unlimited civil jurisdiction in England and Wales. It comprises three divisions: King’s Bench, Chancery, and the Family Division Objects: A charity’s ‘objects’ are a statement of its purposes. Usually these are found in the ‘objects clause’ of a charity’s governing document. However, not all charities have a governing document with an objects clause. Usually a charity’s objects clause means the same as its purposes, but sometimes they are slightly different, such as when:
the objects clause does not adequately or fully express the organisation’s purposes
the clause contains more than just the objects, such as powers
Legal requirement: public benefit requirement: the legal requirement that, to be a charity, an organisation’s purposes must each be for the public benefit. Purpose(s) and charitable purpose(s): we use the term ‘purpose(s)’ to mean the purpose(s) of an individual organisation. A charity’s purpose sets out what it is set up to achieve. Legal requirement: to be a ‘charitable purpose’ a purpose must fall within one of the descriptions of purposes in the Charities Act and be for the public benefit. This has to be demonstrated in each case. The courts: we use this term to mean, collectively, the Tribunal, the Upper Tribunal and the courts. The Tribunal: the First-tier Tribunal (Charity) is the first level of appeal against the decisions of the Charity Commission set out in Schedule 6 of the Charities Act. The Upper Tribunal: The Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber) is the second level of appeal against decisions of the Commission set out in Schedule 6 of the Charities Act.