The head of the new Charity Tribunal hopes the body will speed up the evolution of charity law to keep pace with developments in the third sector.

Alison McKenna, who this month took up her post as the tribunal’s first president, said that charity law had ‘ossified’ because of the reluctance of charities to challenge the Charity Commission through the courts. ‘Nobody’s pushing the boundaries of case law,’ she told the Gazette this week.

The tribunal, due to hear its first case this autumn, was set up under the Charities Act 2006. As well as hearing appeals against decisions by the commission, it has what McKenna described as ‘unique powers’ to involve the Attorney General in points of law. The Attorney General may also intervene in cases where she feels the law needs clarification. ‘No doubt she will also be petitioned to become involved in other matters,’ McKenna said.

Estimates of the tribunal’s likely workload vary widely, McKenna said. The body, part of the Tribunals Service under the Ministry of Justice, is funded on the expectation of 50 cases a year. But this estimate was based on workload experienced by other tribunals, she said.

One unknown is the workload likely to be generated by the new public benefit test for charities, particularly relating to independent schools. McKenna is not expecting a rush. ‘It might be a while before the commission decides to take regulatory action and it’ll be quite a long way down the road before it comes to us.’

Catherine Rustomji, secretary of the Charity Law Association, predicted that much of the early caseload would involve challenges to refusals to register a body.

She was sceptical about whether the Attorney General would become frequently involved. ‘The powers may be there in theory, but whether they will be used is another matter,’ she added.