Charities Act 2009

Administrative cooperation with foreign statutory bodies on law enforcement matters.

34.— (1) The Authority may, with the approval of the Minister, enter into an arrangement with a foreign statutory body whereby each party to the arrangement may—

(a) furnish to the other party information in its possession if the information is required by that other party for the purposes of the performance by it of any of its functions, and

(b) provide such other assistance to the party as will facilitate the performance by that other party of any of its functions.

(2) The Authority shall not furnish any information to a foreign statutory body pursuant to an arrangement to which this section applies unless it requires of, and obtains from, that body an undertaking in writing by it that it will comply with the terms specified in that requirement, being terms that correspond to the provisions of any enactment concerning the disclosure of that information by the Authority.

(3) The Authority may give an undertaking to a foreign statutory body that it will comply with any terms specified in a requirement made of the Authority by the body to give such an undertaking where—

(a) those terms correspond to the provisions of any law in force in the state in which the body is established, being provisions which concern the disclosure by the body of the information referred to in paragraph (b), and

(b) compliance with the requirement is a condition imposed by the body for furnishing information in its possession to the Authority pursuant to an arrangement to which this section applies.

(4) The Authority shall inform the Minister concerning every arrangement for administrative cooperation entered into under this section.

(5) An arrangement under this section shall not operate to require the Authority to provide information to a foreign statutory body if the disclosure of that information by the Authority is prohibited by law.

(6) In this section “foreign statutory body” means a person prescribed by regulations made by the Minister, in whom functions relating to charitable organisations or charitable trusts are vested under the law of a state other than the State.