Paragraph 21 – Variation of constitution
209.The term “constitution” is defined in section 106 of the 2005 Act by reference to the different legal forms that charities may take. Charities can vary their constitutions in a number of ways. This paragraph of the schedule clarifies that where a charity of any legal form has varied its constitution (by way of reorganisation or by other means), references in the 2005 Act to the charity’s constitution mean the constitution as varied. This reflects what is understood to already happen in practice and what it is believed was intended by the 2005 Act, and simply ensures there is no room for ambiguity over the meaning of the term “constitution” where a variation has taken place.
