Introduction

This chapter examines the statutory powers of the Commission to remove charities from the register under section 3(4) Charities Act 1993. Section 3(4) Charities Act 1993 reads as follows:

Section 3(5) Charities Act 1993 reads as follows:

The Commission can therefore remove an institution from the register in three cases: first, ‘any institution which it no longer considers is a charity’; second, where an institution has ‘ceased to exist’; third, where an institution ‘does not operate’. It is argued in this chapter that these powers of removal are limited.

‘No longer considers is a charity’

The Commission's power to remove an institution which it ‘no longer considers is a charity’ under section 3(4) Charities Act 1993 allows it to remove charities which were never charitable, and have therefore been registered by mistake, or institutions which were charitable but have amended their governing instrument to change their ‘trusts’. The Commission can only remove a charity from the register because its ‘trusts’ have been changed where this results in the loss of one or more of the essential indicia of charitable status.