Under the law of charity, is the principle of 'public benefit' being hindered by the doctrinal rule of precedent?

Abstract

There is no explicit definition of what constitutes a ‘charitable trust’. S 2 of the Charitable Trusts Act 1957 defines it as ‘every purpose which in accordance with the law of New Zealand is charitable’. For a trust to be charitable legally, it must be for the public benefit, meaning: a) The purpose must be beneficial in a way that is charitable; and b) The benefit has to be shown to be available to the public, or a significant portion of it, not just to a distinct group of particular individual (other than in the case of relief of poverty). The definition of ‘charitable’ owes its origins to the list of purposes contained in the Preamble to the Elizabethan Statute of Charitable Uses Act 1601. The preamble stated that the following uses were deemed to be charitable:...