Chapter 4 - Legislation and Statutory Interpretation Flashcards
In what sense can Acts of Parliament be described as “supreme”?
Acts of Parliament can be described as ‘supreme’ in the sense that it is not possible for anyone to challenge their validity in the courts, even though they are unreasonable or their passage was produced by fraud or some other irregularity.
What identifies a “constitutional” statute, and how is it suggested that its status differs from that of an ordinary Act of Parliament?
According to Laws LJ in the Thoburn case, a constitutional statute is one which
- a) conditions the legal relationship between citizen and State in some general manner, or
- b) enlarges or diminishes the scope of fundamental constitutional rights.
Laws further suggested, in the context of the case, that a consequence of the distinction is that whereas provisions of an ‘ordinary’ statute may be repealed by implication, a ‘constitutional’ statute may not.
What is a consolidating statute?
A consolidating statute is designed to bring together in a more convenient, lucid and economical form a number of enactments related in subject-matter previously scattered over the statute book.
A consolidating statute is presumed not to change the law but only to re-enact it in a different place.
What is a codifying statute?
A codifying statute restates the law on a particular topic in one place (altering it if necessary), incorporating not only previous statutes but also common law principles derived from previous cases.
When does an Act of Parliament come into force?
An Act comes into force on the date specified in the‘commencement section’ of the statute. If there is no such section, there may be an ‘appointed day section’, authorising a Secretary of State to implement the Act by means of an order made by statutory instrument. If there is no commencement section and no appointed day section, the Act comes into force on the day it receives the royal assent, which nowadays is normally siginified simply by being announced to the two Houses of Parliament.
What is delegated legislation?
Delegated legislation is law made by some person or body other than Parliament but with the authority of Parliament.
An example is statutory instruments made by UK government departments.
On what grounds can a court strike down delegated legislation?
On the grounds of the doctrine of ultra vires. Examples of ultra vires legislation include
- Regulations made by ministers that did not have the power to make them
- Regulations conflicting with statutory rights already conferred by previous primary legislation
- Uncertain, unclear or unreasonable **local authority by-laws **
Identify the primary and secondary forms of European Community legislation.
The primary EU legislation is embodied in the all the constituent treaties of the European Union. The provisions of these Treaties are directly applicable in the United Kingdom, without the need for further legislation by the United Kingdom Parliament, by virtue of the European Communities Act 1972.
The secondary EU legislation consists of regulations, decisions, directives, recommendations, and opinions, made or given by the Council of Ministers or the Commission.
What is the mischief rule of statutory interpretation?
The mischief rule allows the court to look at the state of the former law in order to discover the mischief in it which the present statute was designed to remedy. The office of all the judges is always to make such construction as shall suppress the mischief, and advance the remedy.
What is the purposive approach to statutory interpretation?
The purposive approach to statutory interpretation focuses on what Parliament intended when passing the new law before interpreting the words.
The aim is to “do what Parliament would have done had they had the situation in mind” (Lord Denning).
Subject to what conditions (stated in Pepper v Hart 1993) may a court refer to Hansard in order to interpret an Act of Parliament?
Reference to parliamentary materials are permitted subject to the following conditions:
- the legislation is ambiguous, or obscure, or its literal meaning leads to an absurdity,
- the material relied on consists of statements by a minister or other promoter of the Bill,
- the statements relied on are clear.
Where an Act of Parliament appears to be incompatible with ECHR rights, what responses are available to the courts?
The courts may make a declaration of incompatibility which gives rise to a power to take remedial action. It does not affect the validity, continuing operation, or enforcement of the incompatible provision.
