Interpreting Legislation (8) Flashcards
What are the 3 rules of statutory interpretation?
The Literal or Plain Meaning Rule
The Golden Rule
The Mischief Rule
What is the Literal or Plain Meaning Rule? (3)
Requires the judge to examine only the words of the statute itself and consider their ordinary or plain meaning
Court is asked to assume that Parliament simply meant what they said, even if the plain wording leads to an absurdity
Ex: Christie v York Corp
What is the Golden Rule? (3)
States that the plain or literal meaning of the statute should be followed unless doing so would lead to an absurdity (a non-sensible outcome)
Only slightly modifies the literal meaning rule by giving it a safety net
Permits modification of the grammatical or ordinary sense of the words to avoid the absurdity, but no further
What is the Mischief Rule? (2)
Permits courts to examine Parliament’s objective or purpose in enacting a statute with regard to the mischief or the problem the statute was intended to address, then interpret the statute according to that objective
About the purpose and ensuring it is enacted
What are the mechanisms that accompany the rules that can provide support and direction to the court in statutory interpretation?
Internal Aids
External Aids
What are internal aids to statutory interpretation? (2)
Statutory direction: statutes will contain sections intended to assist the courts in interpreting a statute (like definition sections)
Grammatical rules of construction: focus on the context of words used in a statute
What are the three grammatical rules of construction?
Ejusdem generis rule: “of the same kind or class”; where words in a statute describe a class of objects that are followed by general words, the words should be interpreted to be of the same type or class of the words that follow them
Noscitur a sociis: “it is known by its associates”; a specific word can be understood by the words used with it (how does it compare with the preceding)
Expressio unis, expressio alterius: “to express one thing is to exclude another”; assumes that the specific words were a deliberate choice made at the expense of other terms
What are external aids to statutory interpretation?
Include reference sources judges may use to assist them to interpret a statute (like dictionaries, other cases, etc)
What is the Modern Principle?
The words of an act are to be read in their entire context and in their grammatical and ordinary sense harmoniously with the scheme of the act, the object of the act and the intention of parliament
What are the 2 flaws on the modern principle?
- Form: ordinary sense, scheme of act and object of the act (1st three criteria) are just things the court is asked to consider, not goals or criteria; places intention of parliament on same level of those three when it’s really much more important (democracy)
- Substance: principle over simplifies statutory interpretation and determination of parliaments intention is only one goal; courts also consider a wide range of factors and pursue a variety of goals
What is the fundamental problem with the modern principle?
Focus on the intention of Parliament and the determination of something that is already there
Why does the modern principle persist? (2)
It is useful
It serves courts, as it separates the person of the judge from the process of judging and statutory interpretation
How is statutory interpretation a dialogue?
R v Mills
The work of the legislatures is reviewed by the courts and the work do the courts in it decisions can be reacted to by the legislatures in the passing of new legislation
Enhances the democratic process as it is a back and forth between the courts and government to make the law better
