Charity leaders urge exemption from judicial review financial information reforms

Charity leaders’ network ACEVO has called for charities to be exempt from Ministry of Justice measures on the provision of financial information to courts on an application for judicial review.

The organisation warned that “unsuspecting charity members and regular or significant donors could find themselves liable to court costs, to be paid from their own purse, under the proposals”.

The Ministry of Justice’s consultation, Reform of Judicial Review: Proposals for the provision and use of financial information, runs until 15 September.

This consultation about the provision of financial information to the court followed a commitment given by ministers during the passage of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 through Parliament.

The MoJ is also consulting on the financial information that should be provided on application for a costs capping order.

ACECO warned that under the reforms any charity pursuing judicial review and seeking help with legal costs, will have to disclose the names and financial information of all their members.

“In addition, if the charity uses more than £1,500 from an individual or funder to cover the legal costs those contributors too must be declared to the court,” it said.

“The individuals and funders could then be called upon to pay the court costs should the charity lose its case – judges are directed that they must consider this option.”

The group claimed that the measure was “being seen as yet another attempt by Government to muzzle charities and deny the weakest in society a voice of challenge”.

It added that “the overwhelming effect of the reforms would be to introduce a massive chilling effect on charities’ ability or willingness to seek judicial review and severely damage the confidence of individuals and organisations in becoming members or donating funds in the first place”.

ACEVO argued that many charities by their very nature had membership among the most vulnerable communities – the disabled, children, the elderly, the sick – and the threat that membership of a charity might expose them to unexpected court costs above their original donations was a deterrence to participation.

“Moreover, judicial review is central to the rule of law, ensuring that Government at all levels can be held to account for unlawful decisions. It would be a fundamental breach of justice to deny this right of challenge for the most vulnerable in our society,” it said.

“And these reforms appear further to reinforce the overall drive by Government to restrict JR as an avenue of public redress. Further, these reforms would be additional to the highly controversial Lobbying Act pushed through before the last General Election.”