Charity Tribunal win for gay rights' organisation

The Human Dignity Trust, a gay rights organisation that supports individuals seeking to challenge legislation in other countries criminalising consensual sexual activity between same sex adults, has won its case before the Charity Tribunal to be awarded charitable status.

The Charity Commission originally refused to add the Trust to the Register of Charities on the basis that its objects were too political and too vague to be charitable. The Trust successfully challenged this decision before the Charity Tribunal and, in a decision reported on 9 July 2014, the Tribunal concluded that the Trust was established for exclusively charitable purposes, namely the promotion and protection of human rights and the promotion of the sound administration of the law.

Accordingly the Tribunal directed the Charity Commission to add the Trust to the Register of Charities. In conclusion the Tribunal stressed that the decision was "confined to its own facts and does not establish a legal precedent for the registration of other prospective charities".

The full decision can be viewed here:

If link is broken please use: http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/human-dignity-trust-v-charity-commission.pdf