判决理由
A trust for the establishment of a private hospital charging fees is charitable if it relieves the burden on public healthcare services and does not exclude the poor from any benefit it might provide to the community.
事实
A testator left property to establish a private hospital in Australia. The question arose whether the trust was charitable, given that the hospital would charge fees and not primarily serve the poor.
判决摘要
The Privy Council held that the trust was charitable. A hospital that charges fees can still be charitable if it relieves the burden on public services and provides some public benefit. The test is not whether the poor directly benefit, but whether the public as a whole benefits.
关键引述
"A gift for the purposes of a hospital is prima facie a good charitable gift. The mere fact that it charges fees does not necessarily destroy its charitable character."
— Lord Wilberforce
后续处理
Applied to assess public benefit in other fee-charging charitable services.