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Friday 25 February 2011

Charitable definition under the Charities Act (NI) 2008 Part 1

Under the 2008 Act a "Charity" is an institution which is established for charitable purposes only. But what constitutes a "charitable purpose"? For the answer to that question we must examine section 2 of the Act.

Under section 2 the purpose must fall within one of the descriptions listed in Section 2(2) AND be for the public benefit.

The descriptions listed in s2(2) are as follows:

(a)the prevention or relief of poverty;.

(b)the advancement of education;.

(c)the advancement of religion;.

(d)the advancement of health or the saving of lives;.

(e)the advancement of citizenship or community development;.

(f)the advancement of the arts, culture, heritage or science;.

(g)the advancement of amateur sport;.

(h)the advancement of human rights, conflict resolution or reconciliation or the promotion of religious or racial harmony or equality and diversity;.

(i)the advancement of environmental protection or improvement;.

(j)the relief of those in need by reason of youth, age, ill-health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage;.

(k)the advancement of animal welfare;.

(l)any other purposes within subsection (4)

Subsection 4 goes on to include:

(a)any purposes not within paragraphs (a) to (k) of subsection (2) but recognised as charitable purposes under existing charity law or by virtue of section 1 of the Recreational Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 1958 (c. 16);.

(b)any purposes that may reasonably be regarded as analogous to, or within the spirit of, any purposes falling within any of those paragraphs or paragraph (a) above; and.

(c)any purposes that may reasonably be regarded as analogous to, or within the spirit of, any purposes which have been recognised under charity law as falling within paragraph (b) above or this paragraph..


In effect, the Act introduces for the first time a statutory definition of a charity. Any organistion contemplating the adoption of charitable status must satisfy one of the aforementioned descriptions. The organistion must only exist to advance or or more of these purposes.