Section 26 Offences under section 63 of the Charities Act 1992: creation of statutory defence.

Section 63 of the Charities Act 1992 (which makes it an offence to solicit property for an institution while falsely representing that it is a registered charity) shall be amended as follows.

After subsection (1) there shall be inserted—

“(1A)

In any proceedings for an offence under subsection (1), it shall be a defence for the accused to prove that he believed on reasonable grounds that the institution was a registered charity.”

In subsection (2) (meaning of “registered charity”) for the words “subsection (1)” there shall be substituted “ this section ”.