Draft Time Table

Date
Milestone
September 2008 Royal Assent granted
March 2009 First Commencement Order made bringing into operation mainly provisions relating to the establishment of the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland (CCNI)
June 2009 Appointment of Charity Commissioners
June 2009 CCNI established
August 2009 CCNI to issue guidance on its public benefit objective for a 12 week consultation period
September / October 2009 Second Commencement Order bringing into operation provisions of the Charities Act (NI) 2008 relating to:
  • Definition of “charity”, “charitable purpose” and “public benefit” (Part 1);
  • The Charity Tribunal (Part 3 & Schedules 2, 3 & 4);
  • The register of charities (Part 4);
  • Powers of the CCNI to gather information and institute enquiries (Part 5 – except for section 24 which is already in operation);
  • Application of the Cy Pres principle and CCNI powers to make schemes and act for the protection of charities (Part 6, sections 26 – 40 (incl.));
  • Designated religious charities (Part 14, sections 165 and 166);
  • Registration of institutions which are not charities under the law of Northern Ireland (Part 14, section 167); and
  • Charity Trustees (Part 9, Chapters 1 and 2).
April 2010 First charity registrations
April 2011 First financial returns and reports