Charter and Statutes

Founded in 1889, the RSPB was incorporated by Royal Charter. Originally granted by King Edward VII in November 1904, the Royal Charter is the legal instrument constituting the RSPB and giving it legal status.

Since then, the Charter and Statutes have been updated a number of times. Most recently, the RSPB went through a constitutional review process in 2016 – 2019, leading to the current Charter and Statutes and the new Bye-Laws. The Privy Council approved our new Charter and Statutes in February 2019.

The new Bye-Laws were first introduced by Council in March 2019 and will be updated from time to time.

• The Charter describes what the RSPB is for, its charitable purposes and powers.

• The Statutes contain detailed rules about the rights of RSPB Members, the AGM, and RSPB Council.

• The Bye-Laws are mainly for internal detail about Council’s rights, powers and processes.

The Charter, Statutes and Bye-Laws are available for download on this page.