Legal Systems Flashcards
What do acts of parliament consist of?
Preamble
Extent Provision
Short Title
date of royal assent
Enabling Provision
Preamble
Fixed block of text, conferring the authority of the Crown upon the Act making it law
Extent provision
Defines the situations in which a law applies i.e. provisions of this Act extend
short title
commonly used name when referring to an act
Enabling provision
when provisions may come into force on such day as the secretary of state may by regulations appoint
Royal assent
the date an act received royal assent and was passed as an act
Primary legislation
Passed directly parliament
Secondary and tertiary legislation
These are made under authorisation of parliament, commonly statutory instruments used for delegation
the effect of conventions on England Wales legislation
They are given weight in the UK through acknowledgment of their existence. However, they are not binding
what is statutory interpretation?
Sometimes acts of parliament cannot cover certain actions that are meant to be covered by it. Therefore, courts use various methods to interpret what parliament was aiming to achieve with an act. It does not give the courts free reign to interpret the act.
Literal Rule
Words of a statute have clear meaning, courts will apply the words as written. The courts can give ordinary meaning if there is ambiguity even if it yields an absurd result
Golden Rule
To avoid absurdity of a result, the courts may use a different meaning of the words, the rule exists to smooth out the edges of the literal rule
Mischief Rule
This works backwards from the literal rule, the rule looks at what problem the statute was designed to remedy and adapts the words to achieve the desired result
Purposive Rule
This rule works alongside the mischief rule, this looks at why the statute exists as well as what it hopes to achieve. Judges may look at things such as contents of debates on bills in Hansard and common briefing papers
Rules of language in interpretation
The words in legislation are not looked in isolation rather as a whole, therefore courts have other devices used in making their decisions
Expressio unius est exclusio alterius
one or more things of a class are expressly mentioned in statute, the things not mentioned are excluded
example of Expressio unius est exclusio alterius
a contract for the sale of goods, wares, and merchandise for £10 or more must be evidenced in signed writing. As the items are expressed and does not include any general wording, if someone was to sale stocks and shares these would not be subject to the above requirement.
Noscitur a sociis
A word in interpreted by the company it keeps, the context in which the word is used is considered, thereby using the words in the same section of the statute to interpret the word in dispute.
example of Noscitur a sociis
a statute requiring persons operating places of public refreshment, resort, and entertainment to have license. A man owning a cafe argued he did not need a license as a cafe does not fall under a place of entertainment. After considering the words accompanying entertainment, the courts held that the word meant hospitality
In pari Materia
upon the same subject or mater, applied where other statutes may assist with interpreting ambiguity in the problem statute
example of In pari Materia
the court referred to the provisions of the adoption act on the status of natural parent after an adoption order had been made in order to assist with the interpretation of the word ‘parent’ in the children act
