http://www.legislation.gov.uk/nia/2008/12/section/139Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008An Act to provide for the establishment and functions of the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland and the Charity Tribunal for Northern Ireland; to make provision about the law of charities, including provision about charitable incorporated organisations; to make further provision about public charitable collections and other fund-raising carried on in connection with charities and other institutions; and for connected purposes.texttext/xmlenStatute Law Database2026-05-28Expert Participation2022-03-30 PART 13 CHAPTER 11391The grounds on which the Commission may refuse an application for a public collections certificate are—athat the applicant has been convicted of a relevant offence;bwhere the applicant is a person other than a charitable institution for whose benefit the collections are proposed to be conducted, that the Commission is not satisfied that the applicant is authorised (whether by any such institution or by any person acting on behalf of any such institution) to promote the collections;cthat it appears to the Commission that the applicant, in promoting any other collection authorised under this Chapter, failed to exercise the required due diligence;dthat the Commission is not satisfied that the applicant will exercise the required due diligence in promoting the proposed collections;ethat it appears to the Commission that the amount likely to be applied for charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purposes in consequence of the proposed collections would be inadequate, having regard to the likely amount of the proceeds of the collections;fthat it appears to the Commission that the applicant or any other person would be likely to receive an amount by way of remuneration in connection with the collections that would be excessive, having regard to all the circumstances;gthat the applicant has failed to provide information—irequired for the purposes of the application for the certificate or a previous application, oriiin response to a request under section 140(1);hthat it appears to the Commission that information so provided to it by the applicant is false or misleading in a material particular;ithat it appears to the Commission that the applicant or any person authorised by the applicant—ihas breached any conditions attached to a previous public collections certificate, oriihas persistently breached any conditions attached to a permit issued under section 144;jthat it appears to the Commission that the applicant or any person authorised by the applicant has on any occasion breached any provision of regulations made under section 148(1)(b).2For the purposes of subsection (1)—aa “relevant offence” is—ian offence under section 5 of the 1916 Act;iian offence under the 1952 Act;iiian offence under this Chapter;ivan offence involving dishonesty; orvan offence of a kind the commission of which would, in the opinion of the Commission, be likely to be facilitated by the issuing to the applicant of a public collections certificate; andbthe “required due diligence” is due diligence—ito secure that persons authorised by the applicant to act as collectors for the purposes of the collection were (or will be) fit and proper persons;iito secure that such persons complied (or will comply) with the provisions of regulations under section 148(1)(b); oriiito prevent badges or certificates of authority being obtained by persons other than those the applicant had so authorised.3Where an application for a certificate is made by more than one person, any reference to the applicant in subsection (1) or (2) is to be construed as a reference to any of the applicants.4Subject to subsections (5) and (6), the reference in subsection (2)(b)(iii) to badges or certificates of authority is a reference to badges or certificates of authority in a form prescribed by regulations under section 148(1)(b).5Subsection (2)(b) applies to the conduct of the applicant (or any of the applicants) in relation to any public charitable collection authorised—aunder regulations made under section 5 of the 1916 Act (collection of money or sale of articles in a street or other public place), orbunder the 1952 Act (collection of money or other property by means of visits from house to house),as it applies to the conduct of the applicant in relation to a collection authorised under this Chapter, but subject to the modifications set out in subsection (6).6The modifications are—ain the case of a collection authorised under regulations made under the 1916 Act—ithe reference in subsection (2)(b)(ii) to regulations under section 148(1)(b) is to be construed as a reference to the regulations under which the collection in question was authorised, andiithe reference in subsection (2)(b)(iii) to badges or certificates of authority is to be construed as a reference to any written authority provided to a collector pursuant to those regulations; andbin the case of a collection authorised under the 1952 Act—ithe reference in subsection (2)(b)(ii) to regulations under section 148(1)(b) is to be construed as a reference to regulations under section 4 of that Act, andiithe reference in subsection (2)(b)(iii) to badges or certificates of authority is to be construed as a reference to badges or certificates of authority in a form prescribed by such regulations.7In subsections (1)(c) and (5) a reference to a collection authorised under this Chapter is a reference to a public charitable collection that—ais conducted in accordance with section 134 or 135 (as the case may be), orbis an exempt collection by virtue of section 136.8In this section—“the 1916 Act” means the Police, Factories &c. (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1916 (c. 31); and“the 1952 Act” means the House to House Collections Act (Northern Ireland) 1952 (c. 6).