Statuary interpretation Flashcards
What is statutory interpretation
Its a process and exercise of interpreting and understanding the written words of a statute and an act of parliament
When do we use SI
Judges only use this when a case comes before the court with a question of law- this happens when the law isn very clear
Why do we use SI?
Judges have to apply the law in court, so its their job to first understand what the statute means and implement the will of parliament.
Who uses SI?
The job of interpreting the statute falls to the judges (superior judges that sit in court or appeal the supreme court)
What does it mean for a statute to be unclear?
Its either:
Broad
Ambiguous
Error when drafting
Advancements in tech
Changes in language
What two things do judges use to help their task of interpreting statutes?
Aids of interpretation
Rules of interpretation
What is the literal rule?
This involves interpreting a statute by approving the literal definition of an unclear word. This means very strictly avoiding confusion.
LNER v Berriman 1946
-The railway worker was oiling points along a railway line and he got killed. -His wife is suing the railway line
-The Fatal Accidents Act was interpreted by the court
-This stated that a look out should be provided by a railway company
-A lookout should be required for men working on or near the railway line for the purposes of relaying or repairing.
-The railway worker was classed as maintaining the tracks
-The LNER were not liable for his death
DPP v Cheeseman 1990
-D was masturbating in a public lavatory
-D was charged under section 28 of the Town Police Clauses Act 1847
-The word ‘street’ under the Public Health Amendments Act 1907 meant any place of public resort under the control of the local authority
-The toilet counted as a street
-‘Passenger’ was defined as a ‘passer by’
-The police were not classed as passengers as they were stationed in the public lavatory in order to apprehend a persons committing acts
-D wasn’t guilty
Advantages of literal rule
Parliamentary supremacy
Respects seperation of powers
Provides certainty
Saves time
Disadvantages of the Literal rule
Assumes perfection in drafting
Doesn’t allow judicial creativity
Leads to absurdity
Doesn’t apply to words with multiple meanings
Whats the golden rule?
If the literal rule would produce an absurd results the court would then use the golden rule by looking at the loteral meaning of words in an Act
Whats the narrow approach?
If a phrase has 2 of more meanings, the judges may choose between those meanings to select the most appropriate meaning to fit the case
(R v Allen)
Whats the broad approach?
Where the words have 1 clear meaning but that meaning would lead to an absurd or repugnant result. The court can modify words of the statute to avoid the problem.
R v Allen
-D was charged with bigamy under the OAPA 1861.
-The problematic word was ‘married’
-The two meanings were ‘to be legally married’ and ‘to go through with a wedding ceremony’
-Court chose second meaning
-D was found guilty
Re Sigsworth
-The deceased person had not made a will
-Administration of Justice Act 1925 said that the son who murdered her would gain the inheritance
-Problematic as there is no ambiguity in the words of the acts
-The court didn’t want a ,murder to benefit from a crime so used the golden rule to prevent the repugnant situation of the son inheriting.
Advantages of golden rule
Avoids absurdity
Puts parliaments intentions into practise
Applies to words with multiple meanings
Allows judicial creativity
Disadvantages of the golden rule
Creates uncertainty
Goes against Parliaments supremacy
Narrow approach is inflexible
Doesn’t respect seperation of powers
Whats the mischief rule?
It requires judges to identify the mischief and interpret the statute to stop the mischief
Heydons Case 1584, what were the 4 questions?
What as the common law before the act was made?
What was the mischief and detect for which the common law did not provide?
What was the remedy parliament created to cure the mischief?
What was the reason behind the remedy?
Smith v Hughes 1960
-Street Offences Act 1959
-Its illegal for a common prostitute to loiter or solicit in a street or public place for the purposes of prostitition
-The defendants were in a window and on a balcony
-Its problematic as they weren’t on a street
-Parliament was trying to stop prostitutes from harassing passers by
-To stop the mischief they filed them guilty
Royal college of nursing v DHSS 1981
-The Abortion Act 1967 said that abortions had to be carried out by a registered medical practitioner
-Nurses didn’t count as practitioners
-Trying to remedy was the unsatisfactory state of the law before 1967 and the number of illegal abortions which put lives of women in risk
-To stop the mischief, they allowed nurses to give treatment so it would reduce the number of unsafe abortions
-They wanted to ensure abortions were carried out with proper skill
-2/5 judges disagreed with this decision as they were rewriting the act
Advantages of the mischief rule
Avoids absurdity
Puts P’s intention into practise
Creates flexibility
Judicial creativity
Disadvantages
Creates uncertainty
Goes against P supremacy
Limited to fixing one problem at a time
Doesn’t respect seperation of powers
Whats the purposive approach?
Goes beyond the mischief rule, considers the purpose of parliament
Looks at what P intend to achieve by passing the statute
Jones v TBC (tower boot co) 1997
Racial harassment
S32 Race Relations Act 1976
‘In course of employment’
D wanted the court to use the literal rule- tasks which are apart of the job description
-Court used purposive approach to look at P’s intention to eliminate discrimination (stop racism, educate ppl about races and promote equality)
-Employers found liable
R v Registrar General ex parte Smith 1990
-D wanted info about his birth certificate
-S51 of the Adoption Act 1976
-Act said the registor general had to inform the applicant about consellinf seniors available meaning they ‘shall supply’ the birth certificate meaning MUST GIVE
-Issue as he may be hostile towards his natural mother due to being a 2 time convicted murderer
-D didn’t get birth certificate as there was a treat to birth mother
Advantages of purposive
Avoids absurdity
P’s intention into place
Promotes flexibility
Judicial creativity
Disadvantages
Creates uncertainty
Goes against P supremacy
Time consuming
No respect for seperation of powers
Intrinsic aids
Short title
Definiton section
Marginal notes
Extrinsic aids
Dictionaries
Hansard
IDW reform reports
Interpretation act
Oxford v Moss
D stole confidential information but it didn’t count under the definition section
Whys Hansard useful
To find out what that minister was intending to achieve by introducing the Act
What is hansard
Official records of Parliamentary debates, when an Mp introduces a bill, it must be discussed
Davis v Johnson 1979
Lord denning said to not use hansard would be to grope around in the dark for the meaning of an act without switching on a light
Pepper v Hart
Words of an act are ambiguous and are likely to lead to an absurdity, theres a statement in hansard relating to the statute in question; and that statement would clear up the ambiguity
Lord Mackay
Against hansard as it makes cases time consuming and costly
Lord Bridge
In favour of it, judges only look at hansard when relevant
This is silly as you have to read it to know if its relevant
