Statutory interpretation Flashcards
What is statutory interpretation
Where judges give meaning to words of an act of parliament when they are delivering a judgement in court
What must judges find and declare
They must find the correct law and declare it as written by parliament however they can determine the correct meaning
What are the 4 rules
Literal, golden, mischief, purposive
What is the literal rule
Judge reads the statute as a whole and puts the words into context using their plain, ordinary, grammatical meaning regardless of what the outcome is
What did lord ester state about the literal rule
‘if the words of the act are clear then you must follow them even if they lead to a manifest absurdity’
What are the two cases that are examples of the literal rule
Fisher v Bell
Whitely v Chappel
What happened in Whitley v Chappel
D charged under the Act when it made it
an offence to impersonate someone
‘entitled to vote’. D impersonated a dead
man and argued that the dead man was
not ‘entitled to vote’. Court held D was not guilty as the literal
meaning of the words were applied.
What happened in Fisher v Bell
Shopkeeper displayed a flick knife displayed in his shop with a price tag on it. The Restrictions of Offensive Weapons
Act 1969 made it an offence to ‘offer’ such flick knives for safe. Under contract law, goods displayed in shops are not ‘offers’ but ’invitations to treat’. Court held that D was not guilty as literal rule applied to the offence and shop keeper has not committed an offence.
Advantages of the literal rule
Words of parliament, Respects separation of powers, Makes the law more certain, Makes them clear when considering the words in the act
Disadvantages of the literal rule
Cannot take into account different situations, Assumes everything is perfectly worded, Words can have more than one meaning, Can demand ureal perfection of wording
What is the golden rule
Looks at the literal meaning of the words but the judge is then allowed to avoid an interpretation that would lead to an absurd result
What are the two approaches within the golden rule
Narrow and braod
What is the narrow approach
Court chooses a possible meaning of the words but if there’s only one meaning it must be given
What is the case for the narrow approach
R v Allen
What happened in R v Allen
D attempted to marry the niece of his first
wife (whilst he was still married). Not a valid marriage due to close relationship of the 2 women. He was charges under s57
OAPA 1861 offence to get married before
the previous marriage ended. D argued
that he could not be charged as his 2nd
marriage was ‘void’. Court held used narrow approach and decided ‘shall marry’ to be interpreted as going through a ceremony and D was guilty.
What is the broad approach
If a clear meaning of the words would lead to an absurd result the judge will modify the meaning of the words
What is the case for the broad approach
Sigsworth
What happened in the case of Sigsworth
A son had murdered his mother. Mother had made a will which meant murderer son would have inherited her estate. There was no ambiguity in the Act but the courts could not let a murderer benefit from a crime, so the broad approach was used. Held: Court wrote into the Act that the D was not entitled to inherit where they had
killed the deceased.
Advantages of the golden rule
Respect parliaments words, Can choose a sensible meaning, Remove repugnant situations
Disadvantages of the golden rule
Not always possible to predict when this approach will occur and it cannot do too much
What is the mischief rule
Judge looks at the gap in the law before the act was passed and interprets the words which have been used to cover that re existing gap
What 4 points should be consideredfor the mischief rule
What was the common law before the making of the act, what was the mischief the common law did not provide, what was the remedy parliament gave and the true reason for the remedy
What case sets out the 4 points
Hayden’s case
What are the 2 cases that support the mischief rule
Smith v Hughes
Royal colloge of nursing v DHSS
What happened in Smith V Hughes
The defendants were prostitutes who had been charged under the Street Offences Act 1959 which made it an offence to solicit in a public place. The prostitutes were soliciting from private premises in windows or on balconies so could be seen by the public. Held: The court applied the mischief rule holding that the activities of the D’s were within the mischief the Act was aimed at even though under a literal interpretation they would be in a private
place.
What happened in the case of Royal college of nursing v DHSS
The Royal College of Nursing brought an action challenging the legality of the involvement of nurses in carrying out abortions. The OAPA Act 1861 makes it an
offence for any person to carry out an abortion. The Abortion Act 1967 provided that it would be an absolute defence for a medically registered practitioner (ie a doctor) to carry out abortions provided certain conditions were satisfied. Advances in medical science
meant surgical abortions were largely replaced with hormonal abortions and it was common for these to be
administered by nurses.
Held: it was legal for nurses to carry out such abortions. The Act was aimed at doing away with back street
abortions where no medical care was available. The actions of the nurses were therefore outside the
mischief.
Advantages of the mischief rule
Allows judges to look at the gaps and form a ‘just result’, Law commissions preference and what is recommended in statutory interpretations
Disadvantages of the mischief rule
Lead to uncertainty, Difficult to interpret, Risk of judicial law making, Not all judges agree with this law as there was a spit decision in the nursing case, Limited to only looking at the gap
What is the purposive approach
As well as looking at the gap in the law they also acknowledge what parliaments intention was
What must you look at with the purposive approach
Current social context and perceive what they wated to stop or change in the current situation
What cases should you use for the purposive approach
R v Registrar General ex parte Smith
Jones v Tower Boot co
What happened in R v Registrar General ex parte Smith
Under the Adoption Act 1976, an adopted person over 18 could apply for a copy of his birth certificate. Smith applied in the correct manner. The problem was that he was convicted of two murders and detained at Broadmoor suffering from a psychotic illness. It was suggested he wanted to find out who his real mother was in order to kill her. Held: HOL used purposive approach information not given as Parliament could not have intended to promote a serious crime.
What happened in Jones v Tower Boot co
A young black worker was physically and verbally abused at work (by fellow workers). He sued employers, argued that they were responsible for their actions. Employer argued the abuse was not part of the job and outside ‘course of
employment’. Held: COA ruled using purposive approach,
Parliament’s intent to eliminate workplace
discrimination. Employers were held liable.
Advantages of the purposive rule
Take into account modern technology, Fill in gaps left by parliament, ‘Just decisions’ can be made
Disadvantages of the purposive rule
Undemocratic, Parliament have o accountability for the decisions in court, Time consuming, Uncertain,
What are aids
Sources that help decide what parliament means
What are the 2 types of aids
Intrinsic and extrinsic
Intrinsic aids definition
Items within the statute to help make the meaning of words clearer
Examples of intrinsic aids
Short title, Preamble, Long title, Headings, Schedules, Marginal notes and interpretative sections
What is the preamble
Sets out parliaments purpose in acting statute
What is the long title
Explains briefly parliaments intentions
What is the short title
The long title helps you to understand the short title
What are headings
They are above each sections that state what is coming up
What is a schedule
Attached to the act that shows how everything was created
What are marginal notes
Explains the different sections and have helpful comments placed in by the reader
What is the interpretative section
Statement of principles that encourage the use of the purposive approach
Extrinsic aids definition
Items outside an act which may help a judge find the meaning of words
Examples of extrinsic aids
Prelegislative documents, Previous acts, Dictionaries, Academic books, Hansard, Law commission reports, International treaties and interpretation act 1978
What are Prelegislative documents
Green paper, white paper and draft bill which all have the early outline of the law
What are previous acts
Look at things on the same topic and fins similarities and differences
What are dictionaries
Look at them from when the act was passed to see the definition of the word
What are academic books
On similar topics that can help you understand the concept
What is a Hansard
official report of what was said in parliament
What are the law commission reports
Look to see what the gap in the legislation is based upon
What are international treaties
Find the true meaning from where it was originally lost
What is the interpretation act 1978
Has definitions of certain words that are used in legislation
What impact on the purposive approach have other countries had
Other countries prefer to use this approach when interpreting legislation so it encouraged English judges to do the same
