Statutory Interpretation - Paper 1 Flashcards
What are the four rules of statutory interpretation?
Literal, Golden, Mischief, Purposive
Define the literal rule
Judges give words their plain, ordinary, literal meaning, even if it leads to an absurd outcome
What is the key case for the literal rule?
Cheeseman v DPP
Which Act of Parliament was interpreted in Cheeseman, and which word did the judge look up in the dictionary?
The Town & Police Clauses Act 1847 was interpreted, and the word ‘passengers’ was looked up in the dictionary
What was the ruling in Cheeseman?
Police were not passengers because they were stationed in the toilets and not literally passing by or through
What are the main advantages of the literal rule?
It respects parliamentary supremacy, and is easy to apply and predictable
What are the main disadvantages of the literal rule?
Words can have more than one meaning, and it can lead to unfair and unjust decisions
Define the golden 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
What are the two approaches of the golden rule?
Narrow and broad/wide approaches
Explain the narrow approach of the golden rule
Where a word has more than one meaning, courts can choose which meaning to follow
What was the decision in R v Allen
‘Marry’ meant to be legally married to someone, or to go through a marriage ceremony. The court chose the second meaning
Explain the broad approach of the golden rule
Words have one meaning but following that meaning would lead to a repugnant situation, so the golden rule is used to avoid that situation
What is the key case for the broad approach of the golden rule?
Re Sigsworth
Define the mischief rule
Looks at why Parliament passed the legislation, what was the mischief / problem / gap in the law they were trying to remedy
Which case established the mischief rule?
Heydon’s Case in 1584
What was the decision in Smith v Hughes?
It was illegal for prostitutes to solicit ‘on the street,’ she wasn’t literally doing this but the Street Offences Act had been passed to remedy the behaviour of harassing men for their services
Explain the purposive approach
It looks at what Parliament intended, the purpose behind the Act
Which two types of law is the purposive approach always used to interpret?
EU law and human rights law
What is the key case for the purposive approach?
Royal College of Nursing v DHSS
Which Act did the judge interpret in the RCN v DHSS case?
Abortion Act 1967
What was the ruling in RCN v DHSS?
The purpose of the Abortion Act was to prevent dangerous backstreet abortions, so nurses were allowed to perform them as they could do it safely
What are intrinsic aids?
Things inside the Act which may assist a judge in finding the meaning of certain words
Give four examples of intrinsic aids
Short title, long title, interpretation section, preamble
What are extrinsic aids?
Things found outside of an Act which may assist the judge in finding the meaning of certain words
Give three examples of extrinsic aids
Dictionaries of the time, Hansard, Law Commission Reports
