Home
Comply with the Law

Comply with the Law

In order to qualify for charitable status, an organisation must have exclusively charitable objectives and should operate purely for the benefit of the public. By actively promoting the arts, education and enjoyment of culture, museums and galleries fulfil the first obligation.

Some – those, for example, that are run for the private profit of their owners – fail the benevolence test. According to Julian Smith, a partner with law firm Farrer and Co, it is also important to be aware of issues relating to collections housed by charities.

“Possession of a collection does not necessarily mean you have outright ownership or control of it,” he says. “It's perfectly legitimate, for example, for someone donating an item to impose trusts upon it that a recipient organisation has to observe. Problems can arise when organisations inadvertently forget about any legal restrictions on what they can or can't do with an object.'
- Read the full article

Scottish museums and galleries constituted as charities operate under a different legislative framework to those in the rest of the UK. The Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 established a new regulatory framework for charities in Scotland, including setting up the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) as the statutory regulator of the charity sector in Scotland. For further information on setting up and running a charity in Scotland go to the OSCR website.
The Accreditation Resource Directory on Collections Link contains resources which are useful whether or not you are applying for museum accreditation. Go to 1.1 Acceptable constitution for the governing body for more resources, whatever the status of your museum. The directory includes information and links that are relevant to Scottish museums.

A note about this section

The content of Collections Link is written by library, archive and museum professionals with expertise in their discipline. Unless otherwise stated, they are not legal professionals and are not providing legal advice. The content of this and related sections is provided as-is with no warranty for the implications of its use.

We believe that there is a great deal that individual organisations can do to equip themselves with information and resources before seeking formal advice from a lawyer. The intention of these and other sections is to ensure that you are aware of the legal implications of maintaining a collection and can make best use of legal advice when it is available.

Getting Started

A business is a legal entity which exists to provide access to goods, services or other products. Museums, libraries and archives span the full range of organisation types, from the very large to the very small, independent to grant-funded. Every collections-holding organisation has an obligation to be aware of the legal and ethical issues surrounding its work.

Read an overview of the legal and ethical issues affecting collections

Charity Law

Many museums, archives and libraries hold charitable status and define their work in terms of charitable objectives. Charitable status has particular implications for organisations that hold collections.

Governance

Good governance is essential in delivering public accountability for museums, libraries and archives.

Find out more about governance in the MLA sector

Cultural Property

Cultural Property is covered by a range of international statute and legislation, including requirements for Spoliation, Human Remains, Restitution and Repatriation.