Introduction

In this chapter the Commission's powers of investigation will be examined to explore the extent to which investigations lead to the removal of charities from the register under section 3(4) Charities Act 1993.

The chapter looks specifically at the use of the Commission's powers to protect charity property under sections 18 and 19 Charities Act 1993 to see whether there is a consequential removal of governing instruments from the register. This is a natural line of inquiry flowing from Chapter 5 which pointed out the distinction between the governing instrument of a charity and its property.

The chapter illustrates, through documentary analysis of the Commission's published inquiry reports over a two-year period, one of the basic propositions of this book that the Commission's powers of removal are limited and charities will only rarely be removed from the register. This chapter also illustrates through documentary analysis that the Commission's own interpretation of its powers of removal is unclear and inconsistent where following inquiry it removes charities which have ceased to exist or operate. This supports another of the basic propositions that the Commission's powers of removal require clarification.

Powers of investigation and protection

This part of the chapter looks in more detail at how the Commission uses its powers in such a way that there is a consequential removal of charities from the register.