Statutory Interpretation Flashcards
In interpreting Legislation, courts attempt to…
figure out the will or intention of Parliament
Judges only interpret the law, not…
substitute their judgment for that of the Parliament
The purposive approach’s main objective is to…
interpret according to what interpretation would best achieve the purpose of the Act
In “text, context, purpose”, ‘text’ asks:
is the meaning of a particular word clear?
In “text, context, purpose”, ‘context’ asks:
what is the context of the section, the rest of the Act, and the wider context
In “text, context, purpose”, ‘purpose’ asks:
what is the purpose of the Act? What is the intention of the Act?
Two rules for interpreting words in a statue are
- The meaning of a word is usually the ordinary meaning.
- ‘The law always speaks’ : The meaning is the current meaning, not the meaning that existed when the statute was first enacted.
The Interpretation Act lists four extrinsic materials for interpreting words:
- Secondary Reading and explanatory memorandum,
- Parliamentary debates
- International Treaties
- Dictionary
Referral to extrinsic materials only when:
(a) to confirm the ordinary meaning of a word,
(b) where there s an ambiguity in the provision, or the ordinary meaning leads to an absurd result.
The acronym FIRAC means:
Facts, Issues, Rules, Application, Conclussion
Facts asks:
Who is involved? Who suffered? How? Why? Missing information?
Issues asks/implies:
What has gone wrong for whom?
Identifying the legal problem and identifying conflicting or troublesome facts.
Rules implies:
setting out legal principles that willbe used to address the problem.
Application implies:
applying law to the factual scenario
Conclusion implies:
stepping back and playing “the judge”.
