No charitable status for institutions aimed at law reform: A defence of the status quo

Walton-Pocock, C. (2022) No charitable status for institutions aimed at law reform: A defence of the status quo. Journal of Equity, 16 (3). pp. 293-316. ISSN 1833-2137

Abstract/Summary

The withholding of charitable status from institutions aimed at changing domestic legislation (the ‘law reform rule’) has been near-universally criticised by academic commentators and, in recent years, rejected by the highest courts in Australia and New Zealand. This article explains the shortcomings both in the arguments mounted by the law reform rule’s critics and in the reasonings which led to its rejection in Australia and New Zealand. In turn, it argues that the rule should remain the law of England and Wales, on grounds that the rationale for the rule provided by the English courts coheres with well-established constitutional limitations on the scope of the English judiciary’s decision-making.