Production order

R (on the application of Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society of Britain) v Charity Commission [2016] EWCA Civ 154, [2016] All ER (D) 129 (Mar) NLJ 25 March


The Court of Appeal considered the appeal of the appellant charity and its trustees against the refusal of permission to apply for judicial review of the respondent Charity Commission’s decision to initiate an inquiry, under s46 of the Charities Act 2011, and of a production order, issued under s52 of the Act, on the sole ground that they should have appealed to the First-Tier Tribunal (General Regulatory Chamber). It dismissed the appeal in respect of the inquiry decision, and allowed the appeal in respect of the production order, holding that s320 of the Act did not permit an appeal on the grounds that a s52 order had been unlawfully made.