Charitable un-educational objects

Judges appear to have stipulated a ‘merits’ test when it comes to public benefit underscoring education as a charitable object. The same is not evident in, say, objects directed to relieving poverty or advancing religion. At the same time, courts have progressively broadened the concept of ‘education’ for the purposes of charity law. This may present a tension between what is ‘educational’ and what is ‘beneficial’ in the charity sphere. Lacking more than a perfunctory coverage of this issue in the literature, it is appropriate to probe the rationales and parameters of the ‘merits’ test, with a view to developing an understanding of how education intersects with charity law. This is pursued by reference to three primary scenarios where contention has focused: (1) where the object is allegedly irrational or nonsensical; (2) where a donor has sought to establish a perpetual display of his or her possessions; and (3) bequests of funds for publication of (usually the donor’s) work.