Statutory Interpretation Flashcards
What is statutory interpretation ?
How a judge gives meaning to an act of parliament
What are the 4 main rules of interpretation ?
Literal, Golden , Mischief, Purposive
What is the literal rule ?
Words in an act must be given their ordinary, plain and literal meaning even if it leads to an absurd outcome
To give a word it’s literal meaning a judge will use a dictionary of …..
The same year the act of parliament was passed
What was the case example of the literal rule and the outcome ?
Cheese man, masturbated in a public toilet but found not guilty as cheese man did not expose himself to ‘passengers’
Why was cheeseman found not guilty under the literal rule ?
The police men were not passengers as a passenger is someone passing by or passing through. They were stationary when are arrested cheesman
How many parts does the golden rule have and what are they ?
2 parts
Golden narrow rule, Golden wide rule
What is the golden narrow rule ?
Where a word has two meanings and the judge will choose one and ignore the other
What is the case example for the golden narrow rule and what happened ?
R v Allen
Judge had to decide the meaning of marry. To be legally married or to go through a marriage ceremony.
What was the outcome of the R v Allen case ?
Court applied the meaning of to go through a marriage ceremony otherwise bigamy would be impossible to commit
What is the golden wider rule ?
If you give an Act it’s literal meaning and it leads to an absurd outcome then a judge can change the meanings of the words.
What is the case example for the golden wider rule and what happened ?
Re Sigsworth
Son murdered mother and was due to inherit her property under the law.
What was the outcome of Re sigsworth ?
Under the golden wide rule this was seen as an absurd outcome so the judge changed the meaning of the words so the son did not inherit anything.
What is the mischief rule ?
The Judge will look to see what mischief the Act was trying to solve and will interpret that law in order to solve that problem.
What is the case example for the mischief rule and what happened ?
Smith and Hughes
Prostitutes were harassing people from a house but under the street offences act it was an offence to ‘solicit on the street’
