Charities Act 1994 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 4 · Registration of Charities and Provisions for Inquiring Into Charities
8. Effect of, and claims and objections to, registration
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An institution is, for all purposes other than rectification of the register, conclusively presumed to be or have been a charity at any time when it is or was on the register of charities.
Any person who is or may be affected by the registration of an institution as a charity may, on the ground that it is not a charity, object to its being entered by the Commissioner in the register, or apply to the Commissioner for it to be removed from the register; and the objection or application must be made or dealt with in the manner prescribed by regulations made under this Act.
charity
“charity” means any institution, corporate or not, which is established for charitable purposes and is subject to the control of the General Division of the High Court in exercise of the jurisdiction of the General Division of the High Court with respect to charities;
An appeal against any decision of the Commissioner to enter or not to enter an institution in the register of charities, or to remove or not to remove an institution from the register, may be brought in the General Division of the High Court by the persons who are or claim to be the governing board members of the institution, or by any person whose objection or application under subsection (2) has been disallowed by the Commissioner; and a copy of every notice of such appeal must be transmitted to the Attorney‑General.
Commissioner
“Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Charities appointed under section 3;
If there is an appeal to the General Division of the High Court against any decision of the Commissioner to enter an institution in the register, or not to remove an institution from the register, then until the Commissioner is satisfied whether his or her decision is or is not to stand, the entry in the register is to be maintained, but is in suspense and marked to indicate that it is in suspense; and for the purposes of subsection (1) an institution is deemed not to be on the register during any period when the entry relating to it is in suspense under this subsection.
Any question affecting the registration or removal from the register of an institution may, even though it has been determined by a decision on appeal under subsection (3), be considered afresh by the Commissioner and is not to be concluded by that decision, if it appears to the Commissioner that there has been a change of circumstances or that the decision is inconsistent with a later judicial decision, whether given on such an appeal or not.[6