Scottish charity law—a summary
Produced in partnership with Gavin McEwan of Turcan Connell
Practice notesScottish charity law—a summary
Produced in partnership with Gavin McEwan of Turcan Connell
Practice notesFORTHCOMING CHANGE: The Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Act 2023 received Royal Assent on 9 August 2023 and came into force partly on 1 April 2024 and on 1 October 2024. The Act is due to come fully into force by the end of 2025. This Practice Note may be updated further to reflect future commencements of this new legislation.
Historical background
Trusts for Charitable purposes, as a subset of the concept of public trusts in Scotland, may be considered the precursors to modern Scottish charities. The law on public trusts developed largely through a series of Court of Session cases in the nineteenth century, which built on earlier English law principles.
The closest Scotland came to a formal definition of charitable purposes was the definition used in England and Wales for tax purposes set down in the case of Commissioners for Special Purposes of Income Tax v Pemsel which in turn relied upon the Statute of Charitable Uses (1601). The definition was reiterated for Scottish purposes in the case of Inland Revenue
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