Overview

The Charities Act 2006 created a new Charity Tribunal. Previously, if a charity was not satisfied with one of our decisions the only independent route of appeal was by taking the case to the High Court, which tends to be an expensive and complicated process.

In 2009 the Charity Tribunal was transferred to the First-tier Tribunal (Charity) following reforms of the Tribunal system. It is part of the Tribunals Service, an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice.

Many of our decisions can be challenged through our Decision Review procedure. Some may also be challenged directly through the First-tier Tribunal (Charity), which we refer to here as the Tribunal. The Tribunal provides an independent route of appeal against some of our decisions and has the power to quash, change or add to them. In some cases the Tribunal may direct us to take further action or rectify our decision.

There are some limitations about which types of decision can be considered by the Tribunal and who can apply. Decisions which may be considered by the Tribunal are listed in Schedule 6 of the Charities Act 2011.

The Tribunal's website provides full details of its procedures and maintains a register of information about ongoing cases and decisions which it has made about previous cases.