Trevor McKee and Joseph Hughes and The Attorney General for Northern Ireland and The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland and the Department for Communities - The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland and Sean Caughey and The Attorney General for Northern Ireland - Robert Crawford and The Attorney General for Northern Ireland and The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland and Trevor McKee
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | McCloskey LJ |
| Judgment Date | 19 February 2020 |
| Neutral Citation | [2020] NICA 13 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Northern Ireland) |
| Date | 19 February 2020 |
1
Neutral Citation No: [2020] NICA 13
Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down
(subject to editorial corrections)*
Ref: McC11190
Delivered: 19 /02/2020
IN HER MAJESTY’S COURT OF APPEAL IN NORTHERN IRELAND
ON APPEAL FROM
THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE IN NORTHERN IRELAND
________
CHANCERY DIVISION
________
Between:
TREVOR McKEE AND JOSEPH HUGHES
First Appellants;
and
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR NORTHERN IRELAND
Second Appellant;
and
THE CHARITY COMMISSION FOR NORTHERN IRELAND
Respondent;
and
THE DEPARTMENT FOR COMMUNITIES
Intervener.
________
2017/129608
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE IN NORTHERN IRELAND
________
CHANCERY DIVISION
________
Between:
THE CHARITY COMMISSION FOR NORTHERN IRELAND
Appellant
and
2
SEAN CAUGHEY
First Respondent
and
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR NORTHERN IRELAND
Second Respondent
________
2017/129444
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE IN NORTHERN IRELAND
________
CHANCERY DIVISION
________
Between:
ROBERT CRAWFORD
First Appellant
and
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR NORTHERN IRELAND
Second Appellant
and
THE CHARITY COMMISSION FOR NORTHERN IRELAND
Respondent
and
TREVOR McKEE
Intervener
________
Before Morgan LCJ, McCloskey LJ and Horner J
________
McCLOSKEY LJ (delivering the judgment of the court)
Preface
In the interests of simplicity the parties to this appeal are described in the title hereto
as they were at first instance. There are four appeals in total. The Charity
Commission for Northern Ireland (the “Charity Commission”/”the Commission”) is
the sole Appellant. The Attorney General for Northern Ireland (the “Attorney
General”), who exercised his statutory right to intervene at first instance, has filed a
Notice under Order 59, Rule 6. The Department for Communities (“the
Department”) is an intervening party. The other parties, all Respondents to this
3
appeal, are Robert Crawford, Sean Caughey, Trevor McKee and Joseph Hughes. Of
these four parties only Mr Hughes was legally represented, both above and below.
The Contours of the Litigation
[1] The shape of the case is gleaned from the opening paragraphs of the
judgment of the trial judge Madam Justice McBride (“the judge”):
“[1] The three appeals under consideration all raise the same
question of law (“the key issue”) namely, whether the functions
attributed to the Charity Commission by the provisions of the
Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008 (“the 2008 Act”) can
lawfully be discharged by employees of the Commission, acting
alone.
[2] The Attorney General, Mr McKee, Mr Hughes,
Mr Crawford and Mr Caughey each submitted that employees
of the Commission acting alone could not lawfully discharge the
functions attributed to the Commission under the 2008 Act.
[3] In contrast the Commission and the Department for
Communities (“the Department”) each contended that the
functions in question could lawfully be discharged by employees
of the Commission.”
[2] Fundamentally, there is a single question of law to be determined, namely
whether the relevant legislation permits the discharge of the Charity Commission’s
statutory powers, duties and functions by its “staff” (the statutory word). If “Yes”
the inquiry ends. If “No”, there arises a second question of law namely whether the
legislation permits delegation of some or all of the Charity Commission’s functions
et al to be performed by its staff.
[3] In brief compass the backdrop to these appeals is formed by certain decisions
purportedly made by the Charity Commission and ensuing appeals to the Charity
Appeal Tribunal for Northern Ireland (“the Tribunal”), followed by appeals to the
Chancery Division of the High Court.
Statutory Framework
[4] The statutory provisions of relevance are rehearsed in extenso in the judgment
at first instance and are to be found in the Appendix to this judgment. Bearing in
mind the contours of the litigation they may be reduced to the following summary:
(i) The Charity Commission is a body corporate consisting of a
chair, a deputy chair and at least three, but no more than five,
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