Technical meaning of "charitable institutions" confined exemption to municipal or publicly connected bodies, not all charities.

Words in a statute are ordinarily given their technical legal meaning unless the context shows a contrary intention. Construing section 94 of the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works Act 1915, the Privy Council held that the phrase "charitable institutions" was confined by the surrounding text, which focused on public bodies, municipal purposes, and institutions connected with municipal authorities. On that reading, the exemption applied only to charitable institutions of a municipal or publicly supported character. An institution conducted by trustees and not owned or controlled by a municipality, although charitable in law, did not fall within the provision. The claimed exemption was therefore unavailable.

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Issues: Whether the expression "charitable institutions" in section 94 of the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works Act, 1915 includes an institution conducted by trustees and not owned or controlled by a municipality.

Analysis: The phrase "charitable institutions" was construed in its technical legal sense unless the context showed a contrary intention. Read as a whole, section 94 was directed to supplying water free of charge for municipal purposes and for public institutions supported by or connected with municipal authorities. The repeated reference to public bodies, the role of the municipal council in fixing quantities and conditions, and the history of the provision all indicated that the exemption was confined to public institutions of a municipal character. The institution in question, though charitable in the legal sense, did not fall within that restricted class.

Conclusion: The expression did not extend to the appellants' institution, and the exemption claimed was unavailable.

Final Conclusion: The appeal failed because the statutory exemption was limited to municipal or municipally connected charitable institutions, not to every charitable institution in the technical legal sense.

Ratio Decidendi: Words in a statute are to be given their technical legal meaning unless the context discloses a contrary intention, and contextual indicators may confine an apparently broad charitable exemption to institutions of a specified public or municipal character.

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