Re Greenpeace of New Zealand Inc

Greenpeace of New Zealand Inc appealed a decision of the Charitable Trust Board declining to register it as a charitable entity under the Charitable Trusts Act 1957 (NZ). The Board declined to register Greenpeace on the basis that it was not a charity within the meaning of the Act. The High Court allowed the appeal and the Board now appeals to the Court of Appeal. The Board contends that the High Court should not have allowed the appeal because it did not make a mistake in declining to register Greenpeace as a charitable entity under the Act. The legal issue before the Court was whether the Board was correct to conclude that Greenpeace was not a charity within the meaning of the Act. The Court found that the Board was correct to conclude that Greenpeace was not a charity within the meaning of the Act. The Court found that the purpose for which Greenpeace was established was to promote the protection of the environment and to oppose activities Greenpeace considered to be environmentally harmful. Greenpeace was not formed for the purposes of advancing the welfare of the community in a charitable manner within the meaning of the Act. Greenpeace’s activities involved promoting its own views on environmental issues and opposing the views of others, including opposing the activities of governments, businesses and other entities. The Court held that the Board was correct to conclude that Greenpeace was not a charity within the meaning of the Act. The Board’s decision to decline to register Greenpeace as a charitable entity was therefore correct. The appeal by Greenpeace was dismissed.