THE Charity Commission, in a ruling published today, has again declared that a Roman Catholic child-adoption agency – Catholic Care – cannot discriminate against gay couples wanting to adopt.

Earlier this year, Catholic Care, which serves the dioceses of Leeds, Middlesbrough, and Hallam, South Yorkshire, won a landmark High Court battle against the Charity Tribunal’s original ruling.



The independent regulator of charities in England and Wales has considered the evidence and the relevant law and concluded that it would not be justified in the circumstances for the charity to discriminate in this way.

The Commission’s decision follows a High Court judgment in March 2010 to allow an appeal by the charity against a decision of the Charity Tribunal made in June 2009, which had upheld the Commission’s decision not to agree to a change of the charity’s objects. The High Court judgment required the Commission to consider the case afresh, and set out the principles it should consider in doing so. These principles included the need to justify the discrimination within Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights which deals with the general prohibition of discrimination.

Mr Justice Briggs, sitting in London, allowed the charity to appeal the ruling, and ordered the Charity Commission to reconsider its decision. The Charity Commission was ordered by the judge to pay Catholic Care’s legal costs, unofficially estimated at more than Â£100,000.Catholic Care, which provided adoption services only to married couples in keeping with current Catholic doctrine, was seeking an exemption from the Sexual Orientation Regulations. The 2007 regulations made it unlawful to discriminate on the ground of sexual orientation in the provision of goods or services to the public.In a statement published today, the Charity Commission said it had decided against giving consent to Catholic Care to amend its charitable objects to restrict its adoption services to heterosexual prospective parents only.

Andrew Hind, Chief Executive of the Charity Commission, said:

This has been a complex and sensitive decision which the Commission has reached carefully, following the principles set out by the High Court, case law and on the basis of the evidence before us.Â Clearly the interests of children are paramount.

In certain circumstances, it is not against the law for charities to discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation.Â However, because the prohibition on such discrimination is a fundamental principle of human rights law, such discrimination can only be permitted in the most compelling circumstances.Â We have concluded that in this case the reasons Catholic Care have set out do not justify their wish to discriminate.

No one at Catholic Care, which serves the dioceses of Leeds, Middlesbrough, and Hallam in South Yorkshire, was available to comment.

But during its failed plea to the Charity Commission, Catholic Care said if it lost its case it would close its adoption service rather than risk losing its connection with the church.

A Charity Commission spokeswoman said Catholic Care may now cease its adoption service – which represents only around 5 percent of its annual spending – or it could change its policy on gay couples, in line with the law, and carry on.

In welcoming the Charity Commission’s decision, Keith Porteous Wood, Executive Director of the National Secular Society, said:

We’re delighted that the Charities Commission has agreed to do what Parliament clearly intended and prevent charities from discriminating against homosexuals.

He pointed out that almost all Catholic adoption agencies have acknowledged the injustice being promoted by the Catholic Diocese of Leeds and have arranged their policies to be non-discriminatory.