Extrinsic Aids

Question 1

What are extrinsic aids?

Answer 1

These are matters which are outside the Act

Question 2

Since when have extrinsic aids been accepted?

Answer 2

it has always been accepted that external sources can help explain the meaning of an Act

Question 3

What are the 4 undisputed external sources which help to explain the meaning of an Act?

Answer 3

• previous Acts of Parliament on the same topic
• historical setting
• earlier case law
• dictionaries of the time

Question 4

What are the 3 extrinsic aids which are now accepted as external sources to help explain the meaning of an Act?

Answer 4

• Hansard
• Reports of law reform bodies
• International Conventions, Regulations or Directives

Question 5

What is Hansard?

Answer 5

the official report of what was said in Parliament when the Act was debated

Question 6

What is an example of a law reform body which is now accepted as an external source to help explain the meaning of an Act?

Answer 6

the Law Commission

Question 7

Until what year was there a firm rule that the courts could not look at what was said in dates in Parliament?

Answer 7

1992

Question 8

In what case had Lord Denning tried to attack the ban on Hansard but failed?

Answer 8

In Davis v Johnson 1979

Question 9

In what case did the House of Lords relax the rules on Hansard to be used in a limited way?

Answer 9

Pepper v Hart 1993

Question 10

When may Hansard only be used as an extrinsic aid?

Answer 10

when the words of the Act are ambiguous or obscure or lead to an absurdity

Question 11

What did the Lord Chancellor who opposed the use of Hansard point out about Hansard?

Answer 11

that it would take considerable time and cost to research Hansard in every case

Question 12

When is the only time that a wider use of Hansard is permitted?

Answer 12

Where the court is considering an Act that introduced an international convention or European Directive into English law

Question 13

When was the wider use of Hansard used in a case?

Answer 13

in Three Rivers District Council and others v Bank of England 1996

TRDC&OvBOE 1996

Question 14

Ina situation, such as in ‘Three Rivers District Council & Others v Bank of England 1996,’ in what way is it important to interpret the statute even if the statute does not appear to be ambiguous or obscure ?

Answer 14

purposively and consistently with any European materials

Question 15

One did one solicitor estimate the use of Hansard in a case added to the court bill (%)?

Answer 15

25%

Question 16

In what case in 1975 was the use of Law reform reports relaxed?

Answer 16

Black Clawson case 1975

Question 17

Why was the use of Law reform reports accepted in Black Clawson came 1975?

Answer 17

as it was needed to be looked at to discover the mischief or gap in try law which the legislation based on the report was designed to deal with

Question 18

Until Pepper V Hart 1993 what have Hansard have been a breach of ?

Answer 18

Parliamentary privilege.

Question 19

Why are dictionaries the most commonly used external aid ?

Answer 19

because they will define the plain, ordinary meaning of a word

Question 20

What case illustrates how the judges looking at the historical setting in which the words of the Act intended something which they did not know was possible?

Answer 20

Royal College Nursing v DHSS 1981

“medical practitioner”

Question 21

In what case would a dictionary o the appropriate time by useful?

Answer 21

DPP v Cheeseman 1990

Question 22

What case illustrates the use of European Law as an extrinsic aid ?

Answer 22

Fothergill v Monarch Airlines Ltd 1980

Question 23

What did the HOL decide in the case of Fothergill v Monarch Airlines Ltd 1980?

Answer 23

the HOL decided that the original convention should be considered as it was possible that in translating and adapting the convention to our legislative process that the true meaning might have been lost

Question 24

What year was the Interpretation Act?

Answer 24

1978

Question 25

Cases from any branch of law and from any jurisdiction are used by the courts to assist interpretation. So, in criminal manslaughter the courts used which civil case?

Answer 25

Donoghue v Stephenson 1932

Question 26

Why, in criminal manslaughter did the courts use the civil case Donoghue v Stephenson 1932?

Answer 26

to assist in deciding the scope of negligence

Question 27

From what year have explanatory notes been produced along side bills?

Answer 27

1998

Question 28

What do explanatory notes do?

Answer 28

These usually explain the background to any proposed law and summarises its main points.

Question 29

What 3 extrinsic aids were considered in the case Laroche v Spirit of Adventure Ltd 2009?

Answer 29

• Dictionary
• European Convention
• Statutory Instrument

Question 30

What was the case which included 3 sources of extrinsic aids?

Answer 30

Laroche v Spirit of Adventure Ltd 2009

Question 31

What were the words in dispute in the case of Laroche v Spirit of Adventure Ltd 2009?

Answer 31

did a hot air balloon suffice as “aircraft”

Question 32

Why was the claim dismissed due to the fact the courts deemed the hot air balloon an aircraft in Laroche v Spirit of Adventure Ltd 2009?

Answer 32

as the claim was not made within 2 years

Question 33

Who writes explanatory notes?

Answer 33

-government department responsible for the Act once it has been given Royal Assent

Question 34

What does the Interpretation Act 1978 provide?

Answer 34

definitions of certain words that are often used in Acts

Question 35

What is an example of what the Interpretation Act 1978 provides?

Answer 35

provides that masculine shall include the feminine and singular words include the plural unless a contrary intention appears within the Act