Charity Law and Accumulation
Maintaining an Intergenerational Balance

An evaluation of intergenerational justice in charity law.

Ian Murray (Author)

9781108490597, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 5 August 2021

330 pages
23.5 x 15.7 x 2.3 cm, 0.614 kg

'This book is a valuable contribution to a critical area that spans many academic disciplines. For researchers of nonprofit governance and finance, Murray's writing about complex legal systems is accessible and will no doubt provide important details that are lacking from our current analyses. Further, its comparative analysis of legal systems and policies - likely the first of its kind - will appeal to those who study nonprofits across the globe. Finally, for policy makers grappling with the issue of how to think about charitable asset accumulation and potential reforms, Murray offers a vision forward that largely maintains sector independence from government while incorporating intergenerational justice much more directly into organizational decision making.' Thad D. Calabrese, Voluntas

Much has been written in charity law on the type of benefits that charities can provide - charitable purposes - and towards whom such benefits must be directed - the public benefit question. Almost nothing has been written about when benefits must be provided. However, accumulation of assets by charities raises profound ethical, economic and social considerations that are highlighted by the present retreat of the welfare state and the impact of the Global Financial Crisis and COVID-19. This book analyses the issue through a normative, doctrinal and comparative analysis of the legal constraints upon accumulation by charities. It reveals that the legal restraints contain significant gaps in relation to the intergenerational distribution of benefits and to the balance of decision-making between generations. In particular, the book asserts that there is room for law reform to better identify and incorporate principles of intergenerational justice into the regulation of charities.

Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
List of Acronyms
Frequently Cited Works
Table of Cases
Table of Statutes
Part I. Charities and Accumulation Delineated: 1. Introduction
2. The Charity Sector, its Goals and Accumulation
Part II. Charities and Accumulation Delimited: 3. Legal Restraints on Accumulation Applicable on Creation
4. Operational Restraints on Accumulation: Controller Duties
5. Operational Restraints on Accumulation: Alternative Control Mechanisms
6. Operational Restraints on Accumulation: Taxation
Part III. Charities and Accumulation Reformed: 7. Intergenerational Justice and the Intergenerational Distribution of Benefits
8. Which Generation Decides the Intergenerational Distribution of Benefits?
9. Enhanced Agency Costs
10. Conclusion
Index.

Subject Areas: Social security & welfare law [LNTH], Charity law [LNTC], Comparative law [LAM], Law [L], Public administration [JPP]