We discuss the experimental and theoretical status of charge-symmetry violation (CSV) in the elastic scattering of π + and π − on 3 H and 3 He. Analysis of the experimental data for the ratios r 1 , r 2 , and R at T π = 142, 180, 220, and 256 MeV provides evidence for the presence of CSV. We describe pion scattering from the three-nucleon system in terms of single-and doublescattering amplitudes. External and internal Coulomb interactions as well as the ∆ 33 -mass splitting are taken into account as sources of CSV. Reasonable agreement between our theoretical calculations and the experimental data is obtained for T π = 180, 220, and 256 MeV. For these energies, it is found that the ∆ 33 -mass splitting and the internal Coulomb interaction are the most important contributions for CSV in the three-nucleon system. The CSV effects are rather sensitive to the choice of pion-nuclear scattering mechanisms, but at the same time, our theoretical predictions are much less sensitive to the choice of the nuclear wave function. It is found, however, that data for r 2 and R at T π = 142 MeV do not agree with the predictions of our model, which may indicate that there are additional mechanisms for CSV which are important only at lower energies.PACS numbers: 25.45. De, 25.80.Dj, 24.80.+y, 25.10.+s Typeset using REVT E X A π = dσ/dΩ(π − d) − dσ/dΩ(π + d) dσ/dΩ(π − d) + dσ/dΩ(π + d) .