CAA to seek judicial review after Charity Commission accuses it of ‘mismanagement’

The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) says it is preparing to challenge the Charity Commission in court after the regulator accused it of “mismanagement” over a statement it made last year condemning Britain’s partial suspension of arms exports to Israel.

The Commission concluded that the comment – which called the government’s move “obscene” – went beyond the charity’s remit and that trustees failed to keep “adequate records” of how the statement was approved. It issued a “Regulatory Action Plan” ordering trustees to improve governance.

In a statement to Jewish News, CAA described the Commission’s decision as “seriously flawed” and said its conduct had “denied us a fair hearing”.

“The Charity Commission has taken a year to come to a decision that we regard as seriously flawed,” a spokesperson said. “Inexcusably, it then sent out its statement to the utterly disreputable CAGE organisation, which was published 24 hours before we were due to submit formal submissions in response.”

“We are now preparing to challenge on judicial review the Commission’s unfounded claim that CAA has committed ‘mismanagement’ simply because a single routine conversation involving trustees was not formally minuted,” the statement continued. “We will also challenge the claim that a media statement we issued a year ago, in the same terms as statements by the Chief Rabbi and representatives of other leading Jewish charities, did not further our charitable objects.”

CAA said it “first read the Commission’s statement about us when it published on the CAGE website”, calling the regulator’s handling of the case “utterly improper action by the statutory regulator against CAA, a charity striving to defend British Jews at a time when they are under the gravest threat in living memory”.

The Charity Commission said it had “thoroughly examined concerns raised” about the group and found that “not all the content within the article was capable of furthering the charity’s objects”. It added: “The trustees were also unable to provide sufficient documentation about the decision to publish the article and the decision-making process around its publication. This failure to keep adequate records amounts to mismanagement.”

CAA said it intends to pursue judicial review proceedings within the next fortnight.

Jewish News has contacted the Charity Commission for comment regarding how CAGE appeared to obtain details of the case before the CAA’s submission deadline.