Statutory interpretation Flashcards
Why is interpretation necessary?
- outdated meaning
- broad meaning
- new technology/development
- ambiguity
- drafting error
What is the literal rule?
- First rule to be applied by judges
- words are given there natural or ordinary meaning
- judges do not put a gloss on the words
- under this rule the literal meaning must be followed even if it absurd or silly.
Case examples of literal rule
- Fisher v Bell - flick knife in window
- Berriman - wife no compensation as husband not replacing or laying track when killed
What is the golden rule?
- an extension on the literal rule used if it produces and absurd result
- two accepted approaches
>THE NARROW APPROACH is applied where a word or phrase in a statute has more than one meaning
>THE BROAD APPROACH is applied when there is only one meaning, but that meaning would cause an absurdity. The judge can modify the meaning or wording to avoid the absurdity.
Case examples of the golden rule
- Re sigsworth - son killed mother for estate (money)
- Adler v George - not in the vicinity of a prohibited area obstructing HM forces in the actual area.
What is the mischief rule?
- judges have to answer 3 main questions
>what us the gap in the law?
>what remedy did parliament advise?
>what mischief (problem) what parliament trying to stop? - the rule intends to rectify ‘mischeif’ in the statute and interpret it justly.
Case examples of the mischief rule?
- Smith v Hughes - prostitutes in a window still soliciting on a public street
- Stirling - taxi driver plying for hire in a taxi rank not a public street
What is the purposive approach?
- European approach goes beyond the mischief rule because the judge is not just looking at what was wrong with the old law but tries to follow parliaments intentions.
- Lord Denning said the mischief rule attempts to “find out the intention of Parliament” and “fill in the gaps” rather than “opening it up to destructive analysis”
Case examples of purposive approach
Smith - psychotic man who killed adoptive parents asked the courts for his birth certificate under adoption act 1976 but feared information would be used to kill his parents.
What are the aids to interpretation?
- Intrinsic Aids – The Act/Statute itself
- Extrinsic Aids – Aids outside of the Act e.g. dictionary
- Presumptions – Judges can make presumptions about what a word means
- Rules of language – to help identify meanings of words
what are Intrinsic Aids + example?
An internal intrinsic aid is something found within the statute itself which may help a judge to interpret it. These include:
- The Long and short titles
- The Preamble – on older statutes it follows the long title and gives further information about the purpose of the Act
- Schedules – Provide additional information or appendices
- Marginal Notes: Inserted by the drafts man when the Act goes for printing
what are Extrinsic Aids + examples?
Aids outside the Act which can help judges:
- Previous Acts of Parliament
- The historical background
- Earlier case law
- Dictionaries (of the time – Cheeseman)
- Legal textbooks (e.g. Smith & Hogan Criminal law)
- EU Laws
- Human Rights Act 1998
- Reports
- HANSARD
what is hansard? (extrinsic aid)
- The official report of what was said in Parliament when the Act was debated
- Davis v Johnson [1978] – Lord Scarman ( HOL ) said that the use of Hansard was banned as caused confusion
- Lord Denning said to not use Hansard would be like ‘groping in the dark without switching on the light’.
- ban lifted in Pepper v Hart [1993] but only used if the words of the Act are ambiguous, and the statements relied on of the Minister or promoter are clear
- Use of Hansard has added 25% to the cost of cases
what Presumptions can judges make?
they know that:
- A criminal offence requires mens rea (i.e. a guilty mind) (Sweet v Parsley 1970) intention/ guilty mind must always be proved in court.
- Legislation does not act retrospectively
- The King is not bound by any Statute
what are the RULES OF LANGUAGE?
Latin rules of language that aid interpretation:
- Ejusdem generis ( words of the same kind) i.e ‘motorbikes, cars & other vehicles’ Other vehicles would only include motorised vehicles
- Noscitur a sociis (Interpret a word by looking at the rest of the sentence, phrase or Act.) i.e Act mentions the word “animals”, earlier the Act is talking about a safari park. can interpret they only meant the animals in a safari.
- Expressio unius est exclusio alterius (statute specifically states a certain type, other similar things are not to be included) i.e ‘Pit bull terrier dogs’ are not to include any other type of dog
