A radical overhaul of the legislation covering charities and a regulator to oversee their activities are among the proposals put forward by the Law Society today.
The Society recommends a charities office should be set up to register charities to ensure their accountability and transparency in matters such as fundraising and the reporting of accounts.
In its report, Charity Law: The Case for Reformpublished today, the Law Society calls for the legal definition of charity to be rewritten to reflect changes in society.
The society, which represents and regulates the solicitors’ profession in Ireland, says charitable status is based on 19th century legislation and that the proposed charities office should be given power to decide on charitable status. The office could provide support and services to the charity sector and would help protect the integrity of charitable status.
Ms Alma Clissmann of the Law Society says charities often experience difficulties because they are often staffed by volunteers who sometimes lack financial or administrative expertise.
Ms Clissmann also says charities are experiencing difficulty in asserting their credibility with potential donors who in turn are obliged to investigate the charity. "Both the charities and the donors would very much like to have this all above board," Ms Clissman said.
"There is also a need to regulate and register fundraisers with a code of conduct and rules governing the relationship between the fundraisers and the charity," Ms Clissman said. In relation to regulation, the report recommends the charities office would have powers to investigative suspected malpractice or fraud and suggests a new legal structure for charities which would, they say, help the sector which currently uses informal associations, trusts or companies limited by guarantee to conduct business.
The report also recommends measures to provide legal protection for trustees and changing charities’ investment powers which currently restrict them to two authorised lists unless stated otherwise in their terms of trust. The Society says structures should be in place to allow investments to be delegated to professional investment managers.
The Society’s Law Reform Committee compiled the report and has submitted it to the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.