The Chartered Governance Institute (CGI) is incorporated and governed by Royal Charter. Royal Charters are awarded to bodies that work in the public interest and can demonstrate pre-eminence, stability, and permanence in their field. CGI's Royal Charter was granted in 1902 and has been subject to a number of revisions throughout subsequent years.

The Royal Charter continues to signal the vital role that we play in developing and supporting governance professionals. Members who complete their professional qualification can refer to themselves as ‘chartered’ – a by-word for professional competence.

As a chartered body, the Institute is not directly subject to the laws and codes of practice relating to companies. Instead, our constitution, governance, and operational arrangements are set out in our Royal Charter and byelaws. As best practice, we voluntarily apply the provisions of the UK Corporate Governance Code in preparing our annual report and accounts where it is reasonable to do so.

In most of the nine divisions, local service companies have been established to administer the operations of the Institute. In such cases, the companies are subject to their local companies’ legislation. Please refer to the websites of each division to find out more about their local governance.