Appeals - Charity Tribunal

Who can appeal?

As listed in Schedule 1C to the Charities Act 1993, certain organisations and individuals can:

Appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Charity) against a decision of the Charity Commission
Apply for a review of a decision of the Charity Commission.

Appellants will need to apply in writing. You can use the notice of appeal form .You can download a copy of the notice of appeal form from this site or, alternatively, you can contact us and we will arrange for a copy to be sent to you. Please send your completed form to:

The First-tier Tribunal (Charity)
Tribunals Operational Support Centre
PO Box 9300
Leicester
LE1 8DJ
Telephone: 0845 6000 877
Fax: 0116 294 4253

The First-tier Tribunal (Charity) Explanatory Leaflet - T001

If you believe that there has been a failure in the Charity Commission's standards of service or that you have been treated unfairly and been caused unnecessary problems or concerns, you can ask the Independent Complaints Reviewer (ICR) to investigate your complaint. The ICR will look into yourcomplaint in an objective and impartial way.

References: Questions & Answers

The Charities Act 1993 (as amended by the Charities Act 2006) allows the Attorney General (or the Charity Commission with the Attorney General's consent) to "refer" certain questions of charity law to the Tribunal for a ruling. "Charity law" is defined for these purposes in Schedule 1D paragraph 7 of the 1993 Act - see the "Rules and Legislation"section of this website.

"References" are therefore a different type of case for the Tribunal. They differ from an Appeal or an Application for Review (which are usually brought by a charity or a trustee or a beneficiary of a charity) in that they involve general questions of charity law rather than the consideration of a specific decision direction or order made by the Charity Commission.

Further Questions and Answers - T002

Upper Tribunal (Tax & Chancery)

Notice of Appeal Form

To make an appeal/application to the First-tier Tribunal (Charity) you must apply in writing. You can use the Notice of Appeal Form. If you do not use the Notice of Appeal Form, your written application must contain all the required information as contained in Rule 26 Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (General Regulatory Chamber) Rules 2009. There is no fee to pay.

The General Regulatory Chamber (GRC) Notice of Appeal Form (Word) - T98

Send the completed Notice of Appeal form to:

The First-tier Tribunal (Charity)
Tribunals Operational Support Centre
PO Box 9300
Leicester
LE1 8DJ

Fax 0116 294 4253
Email completed form with an electronic signature to: CharityTribunal@hmcts.gsi.gov.uk

Guidance on completing the Notice of Appeal Form

The General Regulatory Chamber (GRC) - Guidance notes for Notice of Appeal Form (PDF) - T97

Time limits and "Out of Time" applications

In The First-tier Tribunal (Charity) an appeal must be made within 42 days of the date on which the notice of decision was sent to you or within 42 days of the decision being published on the Charity Commission's website. An appeal to the Tribunal will be "out of time" if it is not within this timescale. If you are making an appeal outside of the time limit you must include reasons for the delay in the Notice of Appeal Form, which will be considered by the Tribunal

If the Tribunal refuses to allow an appeal / application to be made after the time limit has expired then you may as for this decision to be reviewed or appeal to the Upper Tribunal.

Some first instance First-tier Tribunal (Charity) appeals can be heard in the Upper tribunal

For Charity appeals, cases will be heard in the First-tier Tribunal except where it is decided under Tribunal Procedure Rules that the Upper Tribunal is better suited to hear a particular case. The tribunal rules specify when cases will be heard in the Upper Tribunal, and the process for a case to transfer from the First-tier to the Upper Tribunal.

Guidance for Discretionary transfers to the Upper Tribunal

Business process-receipt of Notice of Appeal/ Application

On receipt of your Notice of Appeal we will review the papers and, if we believe that additional information is required, will write to tell you what other evidence/supporting documents you need to provide.

We will notify the Charity Commission that we have received your application, and ask it to file with the Tribunal, within 28 days, its response in support of its decision. The Commission will copy this information to you.

The appellant may make a further written submission and provide further documents in reply to the response. If so, you will have 28 days to respond to the Charity Commissioners response. Once we have collected all the evidence we will case manage your appeal to ensure it is ready for Tribunal hearing. It may be referred for judicial direction as part of this process.

The judiciary may ask for more evidence - if they do, we will write to tell you what additional information you need to send us. The judiciary may issue Directions to assist in preparation for the hearing.

The judiciary may decide to hold a Preliminary Hearing or a directions hearing to resolve any preliminary issues. A Preliminary Hearing is not the full hearing of an appeal, although a Chairperson may sometimes allow or dismiss an appeal.

The judiciary may decide to hold a Pre-Hearing Review to enable us to issue appropriate directions to parties to ensure that we have before us, everything necessary to make a decision at the full hearing.

At this, or any stage before the full hearing, if both parties agree the Tribunal may decide to determine the appeal on the papers without holding a full hearing.

A notice of a hearing will be sent to you in advance by post. It will have further information about the date, venue, about what you may need to provide in advance of the hearing and what will happen at the hearing.

In the event that a full hearing is to be held, you will get at least 28 days written notification of the date, time and place of the hearing. You will be sent a guide to the hearing centre where your appeal will be heard.

The Tribunal Judge may deliver their decision orally at the end of the hearing or in writing at a later date. Even where the Tribunal has delivered an oral decision, parties will also get a written decision sent to them.

We aim to bring 75% of cases to a conclusion within 30 weeks of receiving them.

Do I have to pay any costs?

Each party pays their own costs unless, in very rare cases, a party has acted unreasonably in bringing, defending or conducting the proceedings. No costs have been awarded in any Appeals to the Tribunal, as of 1st April 2010.

Appealing against the First-tier Tribunal Decisions

Can I appeal against the decision of The First-tier Tribunal (Charity)?

Application to set aside the decision

You can ask the Tribunal Panel to set aside its decision if:

a relevant document in your case was not received in time to be considered by the appeal panel:
you or your representative was not present at the hearing; or
you think there was some irregularity in the proceedings.
If you want to ask for the decision to be set aside, you must do so in writing within 28 days of receiving the decision.

You must apply within 28 days of receiving the decision.

Application to appeal the Tribunal's decision

You can ask the First-tier Tribunal for permission to appeal to the Upper Tribunal on a point of law only. You must apply to the First-tier Tribunal for permission to appeal.

Certain decisions are excluded from the right to appeal under the TCE Act.

On receipt of an appeal application, the Tribunal will first consider whether to review its own decision based on your reasons for appeal. A fresh decision may be issued following a review. There is no fee to pay.

Application for Tribunal permission to Appeal to the Upper Tribunal

Application for Tribunal permission to Appeal to the Upper Tribunal - T005

Guidance notes for appealing to the Upper Tribunal - T006

You must apply within 28 days of receiving the decision.

If you are given permission to appeal to the Upper Tribunal.

It is your responsibility to make the appeal. You should do so without delay because you have just one month between being given permission to appeal and notifying the Upper Tribunal of your appeal. Contact details are below.

If you are refused permission to appeal to the Upper Tribunal.

If the Tribunal decides that a review is not appropriate and if it refuses your Application to appeal, you can apply direct to the Upper Tribunal. To do this you should contact:

Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery)
45 Bedford Square
London
WC1B 3DN

Website: Upper Tribunal (Tax & Chancery)

The hearing

The First-tier Tribunal's hearings are open to the general public. The parties to the appeal may appear in person or be represented by someone authorised by them to appear on their behalf. The Tribunal hearing is held before a panel of one, two or three Judges and other members.

The Tribunal hearing is held in Tribunals Service facilities. A Notice of Hearing will be sent by post in advance to the parties. It will provide details about the hearing. It will also set out any further information you may need to provide to the hearing centre.

If you require an interpreter or signer please ensure that you indicate this in section 10 of the appeal / application form. If the need for these services should arise after submitting the application form, please advise the Tribunal in writing as soon as you become aware. This will enable us to make the necessary arrangements without delays to the process.

At the hearing, you may give evidence, call witnesses, and you or your representative may question witnesses.

At the end of the hearing, the panel may either give the decision orally on the day and confirm it with a written decision later, or the panel may reserve its decision and inform the parties later in a written decision, sent out by post.

If you think the Tribunal has made the wrong decision as a result of an error by Tribunal staff or if there is new evidence available following the conclusion of the hearing, the existence of which could not have been reasonably known or foreseen, you can apply to the Tribunal asking it to set aside or review its decision. Alternatively, you may be able to appeal to the Upper Tribunal. You must apply to the First-tier Tribunal first for permission to appeal to the Upper Tribunal.

Legal support

The following organisation maybe able to provide you with help on your case. Please note, however, that the Tribunal does not endorse, and cannot recommend any particular organisation. It is a matter for you whether or not to seek any advice from them or to accept it, if offered. The Bar Pro Bono Unit is a national charity matching barristers prepared to undertake pro-bono work with those who need their help. You can make contact by visiting their website at www.barprobono.org.ukor view further details below.

Bar Pro Bono First-tier Tribunal (Charity) Flyer (PDF)

LawWorks, the operating name of the charity the Solicitors Pro Bono Group, provides free legal advice to individuals and not for profit groups through a network of volunteer lawyers. Assistance provided involves advice only rather than representation and can be accessed through the application forms on our website.

www.lawworks.org.uk

Legal aid

Legal aid for representation is not available for first-instance appeals to the Charity Tribunal. Unlike courts, most tribunals question the user to find out relevant information rather than relying on the user to present an argument. This means that users of tribunals should be able to present evidence by themselves, and for this reason legal representation should be unnecessary. Advice and assistance ("Legal Help") is already available under the legal aid scheme, and other bodies in the not-for-profit sector may provide representation.

The Upper Tribunal hears appeals from decisions of the First-tier Tribunal on points of law, as well as certain judicial review matters which would previously have been considered by the High Court. Legal aid for both advice and representation is available for Upper Tribunal proceedings which fall into either of these categories, irrespective of the jurisdiction of the First-tier Tribunal. This is because the right of appeal was previously to the High Court. The provision of legal aid is subject to the usual tests of the applicant's means and the merits of their case.

The Legal Services Commission (LSC) administers the legal aid scheme.