2A - Statutory Interpretation

Question 1

What is the quote that shows the definition of the literal rule and what case was it said in?

Answer 1

R v Judge of City of London Court

‘if the words of the Act are clear, the Court must follow them even though they lead to manifest absurdity’

Question 2

What case demonstrates the absurdity of the literal rule?

Answer 2

Whiteley v Chappell ‘person entitled to vote’. The D pretended to a dead person in order to vote.

Question 3

What case demonstrates the literal rule being unfair?

Answer 3

LNER v Berriman ‘relaying or repairing’ ≠ oiling. No lookout was provided and the widow wanted compensation

Question 4

What are the advantages of the literal rule?

Answer 4

• Respects Parliamentary sovereignty
• Quick and easy decision
• Saves money
• Certainty - only uses the words in the Act and their meaning

Question 5

What are the disadvantage of the literal rule?

Answer 5

• Can lead to manifest absurdity - Whiteley v Chappell
• Can lead to unfair results - LNER v Berriman
• Multiple meaning to words so rely on judges opinion on which meaning to choose
• Doesn’t account for Parliament’s intention
• Assumes all situations are covered. The law could be written 100’s years ago and may not apply in the literal sense anymore
• Assumes the law is correct - the law may have been made fast such as the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991

Question 6

What is the quote that shows the definition of the golden rule and what case was it said in?

Answer 6

Lord Reid on Jones v DPP (narrow approach)
‘if they are capable of more than one meaning, then you choose between those two meanings, but beyond this you must not go’

Question 7

What case demonstrates the narrow approach of the golden rule?

Answer 7

R v Allen - bigamy, definition of marriage

Question 8

What case demonstrates the wide approach of the golden rule?

Answer 8

Re Sigsworth - son killed mum, no will, he was the next ‘issue’, he shouldn’t benefit from murder

Question 9

What are the advantages of the golden rule?

Answer 9

• allows for different meanings of words
• respects Parliamentary sovereignty to some extent as it starts with the literal rule
• Avoids absurdity (Re Sigsworth - didn’t benefit from murder)

Question 10

What are the disadvantages of the golden rule?

Answer 10

• subjective - 2+ meanings (R v Allen- other judges may not agree leading to uncertainty)
• Takes more time + costs more
• limited use - start with the literal rule and depart is absurd/unfair/repugnant
• partial sovereignty as they could choose a different definition from the intended one
• Michael Zander - ‘feeble parachute’

Question 11

What did Haydons Case define the mischief rule as?

Answer 11

1. common law before statute
2. mischief and defect in the common law
3. what remedy did Parliament intend
4. Whats the true reason for remedy in context to the case

Question 12

Give 2 case examples of the mischief rule?

Answer 12

RCN v DHSS - ‘terminated by a registered medical practitioner’
Smith v Hughes - weren’t ‘in a street or public place’

Question 13

What are the advantages of the mischief rule?

Answer 13

• respects the intention of the act and therefore deals with the problem they were trying to solve - Smith v Hughes - the intention was to avoid being solicited in the streets
• allows for definitions to be extended - Smith v Hughes - they extended ‘street or public place’ to include balconies/windows
• allows for technological/medical advance - RCN v DHSS- law remains effective and saves time and P doesn’t have to update the law themselves
• set procedure leads to a fair result as they have to follow the criteria in Haydon’s Case
• Law Commission says this is a better rule and should be used more often

Question 14

What are the disadvantages of the mischief rule?

Answer 14

• It doesn’t respect Parliamentary sovereignty as judges could change/write into the law and brings into question whether judges are overstepping within their roles? (RCN v DHSS)
• Following the criteria set out in Haydon’s case takes time and effort and therefore costs more
• There is uncertainty about when it’ll be used
• Its also subjective

Question 15

What’s the definition of the purposive approach?

Answer 15

• Focus’ on Parliament’s intention
• Started being used when the UK joined the EU in 1973
• Modern equivalent of the mischief rule

Question 16

Give 2 case examples of the purposive approach?

Answer 16

R v Registrar General, ex parte Smith - shall…supply’

Quintavalle - ‘embryo means a live human embryo where fertilisation is complete’

Question 17

What are the advantages of the purposive approach?

Answer 17

• looks at Parliament’s intention behind the act (R v Registrar General, ex parte Smith - they would have wanted to keep his birth mother safe)
• Widest approach/rule and thus avoids absurd decisions but also uses it in any case to reflect the law or change it
• Courts can update the law in line with technological/medical advancements (R v Quintavalle)

Question 18

What are the disadvantages of the purposive approach?

Answer 18

• Widest approach of all the rules/approaches meaning its open to interpretation and is subjective
• It doesn’t respect Parliamentary supremacy doctrine as it instead looks at the intention behind the act rather than the act itself
• Creates uncertainty as people are unsure of when it will be used or how it will be used
• It’s difficult to establish Parliament’s intention - we can use intrinsic and extrinsic aids to help make it clearer but these aren’t always easy to find and means judges may second guess
• It gives too much power to unelected judges meaning it’s undemocratic

Question 19

What did Lord Scarman say about the purposive approach?

Answer 19

’ we are to be governed not by Parliament’s intention but by Parliament’s enactments’

Question 20

What are intrinsic aids?

Answer 20

Matters inside the statute itself such as the long title, short title, the preamble, and the definition section

Question 21

What are extrinsic aids?

Answer 21

Matters outside the statute such as dictionaries and Hansard

Question 22

What is Hansard?

Answer 22

The official report of what was said in Parliament when the Act was debated. Until 1992 there was a firm rule that the courts couldn’t look at this until Pepper v Hart

Question 23

What are the advantages of intrinsic aids?

Answer 23

• Parliament put it in the statute to make it clearer therefore making their intentions clearer
• Older statutes have a long preamble
• There may be a definition section so courts can see exactly what they intended
• Theft Act 1968 - definition for ‘building’ applies to an inhabited vehicle or vessel

Question 24

What are the disadvantages of intrinsic aids?

Answer 24

• Not every statute will have definition sections and modern statutes don’t have long preambles like older laws
• Headings included by printers are not the true intention
• Theft Act 1968 - ‘dishonesty’ not defined so judges are responsible to interpret it

Question 25

What are the advantages of extrinsic aids?

Answer 25

• Hansard is available for everyone to consult and makes wording in the statute clearer

Question 26

What are the disadvantages of extrinsic aids?

Answer 26

• Hansard isn’t always helpful as the words in issue are not always discussed or what was said might not be any clearer
• Additional costs as the lawyer has to spend time finding/reading the relevant aids