City Doctoral Researchers Association v Charity Commission of England and Wales

Facts

The applicant, the City Doctoral Researchers Association, complained to the Charity Commission of England and Wales about the conduct of three charities towards its members: the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education, the European Academy of Optometry and Optics, and the City, University of London, Students Union. It maintained that each charity had acted in breach of its obligations under charity law. In each case the Commission declined to take any action. The applicant appealed to the First-tier Tribunal (General Regulatory Chamber) against the Commission's failure to act, arguing that a refusal to act amounted to a decision not to remove the institutions from the register of charities. The FTT struck out all three appeals for want of jurisdiction under Rule 8(2) of the Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (General Regulatory Chamber) Rules 2009, in decisions released on 20 March, 10 June and 4 August 2025, and refused permission to appeal in each case. The applicant sought permission to appeal from the Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber), which was refused on the papers in decisions released on 22 and 30 July 2026. The applicant then asked for those refusals to be reconsidered at a hearing, which was held by video on 14 September 2026 and attended by Flavio Fellica, the applicant's General Secretary.