Statutory Interpretation (Paper 1) Flashcards
Four rules of statutory interpretation
Literal, Golden, Mischief, Purposive
The literal rule
Judges give words their plain, ordinary, literal meaning, even if it leads to an absurd outcome
Lord Esher’s quote
If the words of an Act are clear, you must follow them. Even though they lead to a manifest absurdity
Key case for the literal rule
Cheeseman
What happened in the case
Judges used a dictionary to look up the meaning of ‘passengers’ as used in the Town Police Clauses Act 1847
Ruling from the case
Police were not passengers because they were stationed in the toilets and not literally passing by or through
Advantages of the literal rule
Respects parliamentary supremacy, and is easy and predictable
Disadvantages of the literal rule
Words have more than one meaning, can lead to unfair and unjust decisions
The Golden Rule
Modification of the literal rule, starts by using the literal rule but if it would lead to an absurd result, the golden rule can be used to avoid that result
Two approaches of the golden rule
Narrow and broad approach
The narrow approach
Used where a word has more than one meaning, and the court is allowed to choose which meaning to follow
R v Allen
Marry meant either to be legally married to someone, or to go through a marriage ceremony. As it is legally impossible to marry someone twice, the court chose the second meaning
The broad approach
Words only have one meaning but following that meaning would lead to a repugnant situation, so the golden rule is used to avoid that situation
Case for the broad approach
Re Sigsworth
The mischief rule
Looks at why Parliament passed the legislation in the first place, what was the mischief/problem they were trying to remedy
Case which established the mischief rule
Heydon’s Case in 1584
Smith v Hughes
Concerned female prostitutes, it was illegal to solicit ‘on the street.’ They weren’t literally doing this but the mischief the Street Offences Act was trying to remedy was the behaviour
The purposive approach
Looks at what Parliament intended, the purpose behind the Act
The purposive approach is used to interpret what kind of laws
EU and human rights law
Key case of the purposive approach
Royal College of Nursing v DHSS
Statute in the RCN v DHSS case
Abortion Act 1967
Ruling in the case
Abortion Act stated abortions were legal if performed by doctors, but nurses were doing them as well. The purpose of the Act was to prevent dangerous backstreet abortions so nurses were allowed to perform them as they could do it safely
Extrinsic aids
Things found outside of an Act which may assist the judge to find the meaning of certain words
Examples of extrinsic aids
Dictionaires of the time, Hansard, Law Commission Reports
Intrinsic aids
Things inside the Act which may assist a judge in finding the meaning of certain words
Examples of intrinsic aids
Short title, long title, preamble
