The New Zealand Supreme Court ruled on 6 August 2014, that charities can engage in political activities in Re Greenpeace of New Zealand Incorporated [2014] NZSC 105. Previously, organisations were excluded from registering as charities if they engaged in political activities, which the Court found was contrary to the inquiry of whether organisation activities were for the purpose of public benefit.
In 2008 Greenpeace New Zealand attempted to register as a charity with the New Zealand Charities Board (previously the Charities Commission). The environmental organisation’s application was declined on the grounds that although the majority of the organisation’s activities were charitable, two of its objectives would not be compatible with the definition of charitable purposes. These were the promotion of disarmament and peace and the promotion of “legislation, policies, rules, regulations and plans which further Greenpeace’s other objects and support their enforcement or implementation though political or judicial processes as necessary.”
Greenpeace appealed the decision to the New Zealand High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court who eventually found that political advocacy for a charitable undertaking was allowed. The majority held that a blanket exclusion of political purposes is unnecessary and distracts from the underlying inquiry of whether a purpose is of public benefit with the sense the law recognises as charitable.
In Ireland, the Charities Act was enacted in 2009 and provides for a new system of registration and regulation of the charities sector. Previously, charities would only be registered with the Revenue Commissioner, for tax purposes. Under the Charities Act 2009, charities can register if they are established for ‘charitable purposes’. Bodies excluded from register are those which promote a political cause, unless the promotion of that cause relates directly to the advancement of the charitable purposes of the body. The Charity Regulatory Authority is due to officially launch on 16 October of this year. The Authority will be responsible for the establishment and maintenance of a public register of charities and has a range of other regulatory and advisory functions.
Click here to read the Green Peace New Zealand press release.
Click here to download a summary of the Supreme Court judgment.