s 44 Charities
(1) Nothing in Parts III to V shall— (a) be construed as affecting a provision to which this paragraph applies, or (b) render unlawful an act which is done in order to give effect to such a provision. (2) Paragraph (1) applies to a provision for conferring benefits on persons of one sex only (disregarding any benefits to persons of the opposite sex which are exceptional or are relatively insignificant), being a provision which is contained in a charitable instrument. (2A) But paragraph (1) does not apply to discrimination under Article 3, 3A or 4A in its application to Articles 30 to 32 unless the conferral of benefits is — (a) a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim, or (b) for the purpose of preventing or compensating for a disadvantage linked to sex. (3) In this Article— (a) “charitable instrument” means a statutory provision or other instrument passed or made for charitable purposes, or a statutory provision or other instrument so far as it relates to charitable purposes; (b) “charitable purposes” means purposes which are exclusively charitable according to the law of Northern Ireland.