The Scottish Charity Appeals Panel (SCAP) was set up on 1 October 2006 to deal with appeals of decisions made by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) affecting a Scottish registered charity. It was initially envisaged that SCAP would receive between 50-100 appeals per year. However, in 3 years of operation, SCAP has only received 1 appeal with 1 further appeal pending. So, on 6 November 2008, the Scottish Government announced its intention to abolish SCAP and consult on what should replace it. 

The Scottish Government is committed to maintaining an appeals route for charities unhappy with an OSCR decision.

The consultation explores 5 main proposals for a new system of appeal:

1) Replace with an appeal to the Court of Session - which would be a return to the system in place before Scotland introduced its new charity law and regulator. 

2) Replace with an appeal to the Sheriff Court - a less costly option within an exisiting independent structure

3) Replace with a separate structure within OSCR - possibly a new role for the OSCR board

4)Merge with another tribunal body - independent appeals but possible lack of expertise

5) Consider as part of the ongoing tribunals review - probably a more long term solution


Deadline for responses is 5 April 2010.  To access the consultation documents click here.