Law of Interpretation Flashcards
JUDICIAL INTERPRETATION
How the judiciary interprets laws.
JUDICIAL OFFICER
Any officer within the judiciary.
The Chief Justice, Judges (Supreme, Appeal, High Court), Magistrates, and other officials with powers to facilitate and decide legal disputes
JUDICIARY
Article 125
The courts structure.
APPIAH V BIANI 1991
(PURPOSIVE APPROACH)
FACTS
The deceased died leaving an uncompleted building as one of his possessions. When his widow plaintiff sought to have the building vested in her and their children, the defendant (mother of the deceased) opposed.
ISSUES
Whether upon a true construction of Section 4 of PNDCL 111 an uncompleted house was a house and whether the deceased’s should devolve on the plaintiff and their children?
HELD
Section 4 PNDCL 111 did not define what a ‘house’ was but on a literal interpretation, a house meant a building for dwelling in. A dwelling place must therefore have a roof, walls, and windows. On a literal interpretation, therefore, an uncompleted house would not be a house. But the clear provisions of PNDCL 111 were that on a spouse’s death intestate, his self-acquired house should devolve on the surviving spouse and children. And in order to achieve that legislative purpose, a house would be defined to include any building or part thereof which was occupied or intended to be occupied and would include both a residential and a commercial house. Accordingly, an uncompleted house of the deceased would devolve on the plaintiff and their children. Here the HC read the statute as a whole, including its memorandum to ascertain the purpose of the law.
Seaford Court Estates Ltd v Ashers 1949 Lord Denning (INTENTION ALISM)
“It would certainly save the judges trouble if Acts of Parliament were drafted with divine prescience and perfect clarity. In the absence of it, when a defect appears, a judge cannot simply fold his hands and
blame the draftsman. He must set to work on the constructive task of finding the intention of Parliament
and he must do this not only from the language of the statute, but also from a consideration of the social conditions which gave rise to it, and to the mischief which it was passed to remedy, and then he must supplement the written word as to give ‘force and life’ to the intention of the legislature.”
Osei v Ghanaian Australian Goldfield Ltd [2003-2004] INTENTIONALISM
The Supreme Court explained the basic interpretative rule of construction of deeds
and documents as follows: “The basic rule of construction of documents are that the interpretation or construction
must be nearly as close to the mind and intention of the maker as is possible; and the
the intention must be ascertained from the documents as a whole, with the words used being
given their plain and natural meaning and within the context in which they are used”
Sasu v Amua-Sekyi (INTENTIONALISM)
The Court of Appeal corrected an error in the text by supplying it with missing words to make it intelligible, to reflect the intention
Parliament.
Republic v High Court, Koforidua; EREDEC [2003/04]
The SC quoted with approval the intentionalists approach in the ancient Heydon’s
case, where the court held, thus;
For sure and true interpretation of all statutes in general, four things are to be discerned
and considered;
1. what was the common law before the making of the Act
2. what was the mischief and defect for which the common law did not provide.
3. What remedy the parliament hath resolved and appointed to cure the disease of
the commonwealth, and
4. The true reason for the remedy;
Section 10 of Act 792
Without prejudice to any other provision in this Section, a Court shall construe or interpret a provision of the Constitution or any other law in a manner:
(a) that promotes the rule of law and the values of good governance
(b)that advances human rights and fundamental freedoms
(c) that permits the creative development of the provisions of the Constitution and the laws of Ghana and
(d)that avoids technicalities and niceties of form and language which defeats the purpose and spirit of the Constitution and the laws of Ghana.
