Chapter 3 - Statutory Interpretation Flashcards
What are the four main sources of English Law?
Case Law, UK Legislation, Retained EU/Assimilated Law, and the European Convention on Human Rights.
Why is Statutory Interpretation Necessary?
Statute is the primary source of law in England and Wales, but changes in society mean that statutes are being applied to issues drafters couldn’t have foreseen. This leads to ambiguities that must be resolved to find a statute’s true meaning.
Give an example of why Statutory Interpretation is needed.
The Sale of Goods Act was passed in 1979, who could have predicted internet shopping back then? The Merchant Shipping Act 1995 was passed before the invention of jet skis, would they be considered a ship?
What are some problems with the meaning of words in Statutes?
Words can have multiple meanings. Sometimes vague or general words are used when specific terms would be better. English legal drafting attempts to be all-encompassing which can lead to ambiguity.
What happened in Corkery v Carpenter \ 1 KB 102?
This case concerned the Licensing Act 1872. The defendant was found drunk in charge of a bicycle. It was decided that a bicycle was a ‘carriage’ for the purposes of the Act. This illustrates how the meaning of a word can determine the outcome of a case.
What are the problems of interpretation outlined in Activity 1 of the source?
Even a simple statute like ‘It is a criminal offense to wear red socks in a public place’ is open to interpretation. What is ‘red’, what constitutes ‘wearing’ socks, what if the person is only wearing one sock? These issues mean statutes must be carefully interpreted.
What is the Modern Approach to Statutory Interpretation?
Summarized by Lord Bingham in R (Quintavalle) v Secretary of State for Health \ UKHL 13, the court’s task is to give effect to Parliament’s purpose within the permissible bounds of interpretation.
Describe the issue at hand in R (Quintavalle) v Secretary of State for Health \ UKHL 13.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 defined ‘embryo’ in a way that only covered embryos created through fertilization. The question was whether this definition covered embryos produced by cell nuclear replacement (CNR), as this process did not exist when the act was drafted.
What was the outcome of R (Quintavalle) v Secretary of State for Health \ UKHL 13?
The House of Lords decided that the purpose of the Act was to regulate all embryos created outside of the body. They ruled that the definition of ‘embryo’ should be interpreted to include those created by CNR, even though the Act predates the process.
What is the ‘Always Speaking’ Principle?
This principle states that a statute can be applied in circumstances not envisioned by the legislature if the statute, properly construed, applies to the new situation. This was used in Quintavalle to justify applying the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 to CNR.
What are the Rules of Construction?
These are traditional judicial tools for Statutory Interpretation. The main rules are the Literal Rule, the Golden Rule, and the Mischief Rule. They are principles rather than strict rules, and judges aren’t obligated to use them.
What is the Literal Rule?
This rule states that words in a statute should be given their plain, ordinary, and literal meaning. It is the oldest rule of construction and emphasizes the grammatical meaning of the statute.
Explain the problems with the Literal Rule, giving an example from case law.
The Literal Rule can defeat the intention of Parliament and lead to absurd or unjust outcomes. In Whiteley v Chappell \ LR 4 QB 147, a defendant was acquitted of impersonating a dead voter because a deceased person isn’t literally entitled to vote.
What happened in the case of London & North Eastern Railway Co v Berriman \ AC 278?
A railway worker’s widow was denied compensation because he was killed oiling points, which the court decided was ‘maintaining’ the line, not ‘relaying’ or ‘repairing’ it. This is an example of the Literal Rule leading to an arguably unjust outcome.
What is the Golden Rule?
This rule is an adaptation of the Literal Rule. It dictates that words should be given their ordinary meaning unless it creates an absurd or obnoxious outcome, in which case the meaning can be modified to avoid this.
Describe the two ways in which the Golden Rule can be used.
The narrow application is used when a word has multiple meanings and one meaning would lead to absurdity. The wider sense is used to avoid an outcome that goes against public policy, even if words only have one meaning.
What happened in Adler v George \ 2 QB 7?
The defendant obstructed an officer while on an air force base. He argued he wasn’t ‘in the vicinity’ of a prohibited place as he was inside it. The Golden Rule was applied to avoid the absurd outcome of the offense only applying outside the base.
Explain the issue and the court’s solution in R v Allen (1872) LR 1 CCR 367.
The defendant was charged with bigamy, which the law defines as someone already married marrying another. A literal interpretation would mean no one can commit this crime as a second marriage wouldn’t be legal. The court ruled ‘marry’ meant ‘going through the ceremony’ to avoid this.
Explain how the Golden Rule was applied in Re Sigsworth \ Ch 89.
This case involved a son who murdered his mother. The law stated he would inherit her estate. While there was no ambiguity, the court ruled he couldn’t inherit to avoid the obnoxious outcome of him benefiting from his crime. This is an example of the wider use of the Golden Rule.
What is the Mischief Rule?
This rule aims to determine the legislator’s intention. It considers what ‘mischief’ in existing law the statute was meant to fix.
What are the four stages of the test used in applying the Mischief Rule?
1: What was the law before the statute? 2: What ‘mischief’ did this law fail to address? 3: What remedy did Parliament intend? 4: What is the true reason for that remedy?
