"Foreword" [2010] ELECD 666; in McGregor-Lowndes, Myles; O’Halloran, Kerry (eds), "Modernising Charity Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010)

Book Title: Modernising Charity Law

Editor(s): McGregor-Lowndes, Myles; O’Halloran, Kerry

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781849802505

Section Title: Foreword

Number of pages: 1

Extract:

Foreword
The energy, scholarship and working knowledge evident in the presenta-
tions and exchange of ideas at the international Modernising Charity Law
conference held in Brisbane in April 2009 has been maintained in the pro-
duction of this collection of papers that originated at the conference. The
conference was held at a critical time for reflection on significant reforms
affecting charities and charity law in some jurisdictions and consideration
of the possibility of greater reform in other jurisdictions, against the impact
of the global financial crisis. As with any good conference, general themes
emerged during the presentation of the papers and panel discussions that
did not necessarily reflect the anticipated structure of the conference. This
has been accommodated by the ordering of the chapters in this volume to
cover these themes in a methodical way (rather than the order in which
papers were presented), as is explained in the introduction to the volume.
The work of charities was important to English society when the Statute
of Elizabeth was enacted in 1601. Charities remain important to the func-
tioning of society in each jurisdiction, but their role and the regulation
and nature of charities have changed significantly since 1601 and will con-
tinue to change to meet the challenges of a dynamic society that demands
transparency and accountability where any use of public funds or benefit
arising from charitable status is involved.
This volume is an excellent resource for those who wish to make a
comparative study of recent developments in ...