De facto charity trustee disqualified; period upheld despite no finding of fraud (Ochieng v Charity Commission for England and Wales)

Table of contents

• What are the practical implications of this case?
• What was the background?
• What did the court decide?
• Case details

Article summary

Private Client analysis: This News Analysis examines a recent decision of the First-tier Tribunal (Charity) (the Charity Tribunal) in which the Charity Commission’s decision to disqualify a de facto charity trustee from acting as such was upheld by the Charity Tribunal. It considers the position of de facto trustees. It also comments on the period of disqualification and the difficulty of reconciling the charity disqualification cases so far decided. In this case, the Charity Tribunal upheld the Charity Commission’s original order (which had been based on allegation of fraud) even though the fraud allegation was not made out before the Charity Tribunal. Written by Matthew Smith, barrister at Maitland Chambers.