Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 1964

6 Transfer of certain administration actions to Ministry. N.I.

(1) Where—

(a) a testator has by will bequeathed or devised any property for any charitable purpose; and

(b) an action has been instituted for the administration of the assets of, or for the purpose of carrying out the trusts established by, the testator;

the Ministry, although not a party to the action, may apply on the ground of undue or improper delay to the court in which the action is pending to have the conduct of the action transferred to the Ministry.

(2) Where, on an application under subsection (1), a court is satisfied that there has been undue or improper delay in proceeding with the action, the court may—

(a) transfer the conduct of the action to the Ministry; or

(b) impose on the person having the conduct of the action such terms as it may consider necessary for the purpose of bringing the action to a speedy termination;

and may make such order on the application as it thinks fit.

(3) The Ministry shall, before making an application under subsection (1), give the Attorney-General notice of its intention to make the application.