Part IX Miscellaneous
F21 Charity trustees
72 Persons disqualified for being trustees of a charity.
1
Subject to the following provisions of this section, a person shall be disqualified for being a charity trustee or trustee for a charity if—
a
he has been convicted of any offence involving dishonesty or deception;
b
he has been adjudged bankrupt or sequestration of his estate has been awarded and (in either case) he has not been discharged F11or he is the subject of a bankruptcy restrictions order or an interim order;
c
he has made a composition or arrangement with, or granted a trust deed for, his creditors and has not been discharged in respect of it;
d
he has been removed from the office of charity trustee or trustee for a charity by an order made—
i
by the F15Commission or Commissioners under section 18(2)(i) above, or
ii
iii
by the High Court,
on the grounds of any misconduct or mismanagement in the administration of the charity for which he was responsible or to which he was privy, or which he by his conduct contributed to or facilitated;
e
he has been removed, under section 7 of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1990 (powers of Court of Session to deal with management of charities) F10or section 34(5)(e) of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 (powers of the Court of Session), from being concerned in the management or control of any body;
f
he is subject to a disqualification order F1or disqualification undertaking under the M3Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 F1to a disqualification order under Part II of the Companies (Northern Ireland) Order 1989F6or disqualification undertaking under the Company Directors Disqualification (Northern Ireland) Order 2002 or to an order made under section 429(2)(b) of the M4Insolvency Act 1986 (failure to pay under county court administration order).
2
In subsection (1) above—
a
paragraph (a) applies whether the conviction occurred before or after the commencement of that subsection, but does not apply in relation to any conviction which is a spent conviction for the purposes of the M5Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974;
b
paragraph (b) applies whether the adjudication of bankruptcy or the sequestration F12or the making of a bankruptcy restrictions order or an interim order occurred before or after the commencement of that subsection;
c
paragraph (c) applies whether the composition or arrangement was made, or the trust deed was granted, before or after the commencement of that subsection; and
d
paragraphs (d) to (f) apply in relation to orders made and removals effected before or after the commencement of that subsection.
3
Where (apart from this subsection) a person is disqualified under subsection (1)(b) above for being a charity trustee or trustee for any charity which is a company, he shall not be so disqualified if leave has been granted under section 11 of the M6Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 (undischarged bankrupts) for him to act as director of the charity; and similarly a person shall not be disqualified under subsection (1)(f) above for being a charity trustee or trustee for such a charity if—
F2a
in the case of a person subject to a disqualification order or disqualification undertaking under the M7Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986, leave for the purposes of section 1(1)(a) or 1A(1)(a) of that Act has been granted for him to act as director of the charity,
aa
in the case of a person subject to a disqualification order under Part II of the Companies (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 F7or disqualification undertaking under the Company Directors Disqualification (Northern Ireland) Order 2002, leave has been granted by the High Court in Northern Ireland for him to act as director of the charity
b
in the case of a person subject to an order under section 429(2)(b) of the M8Insolvency Act 1986, leave has been granted by the court which made the order for him to so act.
4
F14The Commission may, on the application of any person disqualified under subsection (1) above, waive his disqualification either generally or in relation to a particular charity or a particular class of charities; but no such waiver may be granted in relation to any charity which is a company if—
a
the person concerned is for the time being prohibited, by virtue of—
i
a disqualification order F3or disqualification undertaking under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986, or
ii
from acting as director of the charity; and
b
leave has not been granted for him to act as director of any other company.
F204A
If—
a
a person disqualified under subsection (1)(d) or (e) makes an application under subsection (4) above five years or more after the date on which his disqualification took effect, and
b
the Commission is not prevented from granting the application by virtue of paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (4),
the Commission must grant the application unless satisfied that, by reason of any special circumstances, it should be refused.
5
Any waiver under subsection (4) above shall be notified in writing to the person concerned.
6
For the purposes of this section F16the Commission shall keep, in such manner as F17it thinks fit, a register of all persons who have been removed from office as mentioned in subsection (1)(d) above either—
a
by an order of the Commissioners made before or after the commencement of subsection (1) above, or
b
and, where any person is so removed from office by an order of the High Court, the court shall notify F19the Commission of his removal.
7
The entries in the register kept under subsection (6) above shall be available for public inspection in legible form at all reasonable times.
F138
In this section “the Commissioners” means the Charity Commissioners for England and Wales.
S. 72 cross-heading substituted (27.2.2007) by Charities Act 2006 (c. 50), s. 79(2), Sch. 8 para. 155; S.I. 2007/309, art. 2, Sch.