statutory interpretations Flashcards
why do judges interpret statutes
ambiguity
new inventions/ tech
change in language
a broad term
drafting errors
what are the four rules of interpretations
literal rule
golden rule
mischief rule
purposive rule
what does the literal rule
lord esher said “if the words of an act are clear, you must follow them even if they lead to a manifest absurdity” the literal rule requires judges to apply the literal, ordinary, dictionary meaning of word even if they lead to manifested absurdity
what is the case for the literal rule
LNER V berriman
what happened in lner v berriman
the v was oiling the railway when a train hit him. but the railway company werent liable because he was maintaining and not relaying and repairing.
what act did they have to interpret in LNER V berriman
fatal accidents act 1846 because it covers all fatal accidents at the workplace.
where can the literal rule also be seen
dpp v cheeseman
what happened in r v Cheeseman
he masturbated in a public toilet but was not found gulty of a crime
what statute was Cheeseman charged under
town police cause act 1847, which stated that indecent exposure of ones person in the street to the annoyance of passengers is illegal
how did the public health acts amendment act1907 define street
any place of public resort under the control of local authority. therefore the toilet may count as the street.
what was the definition of passenger and where did they find it
a passer by or through its place for its ordinary purpose, in a dictionary from 1847.
did the police count as passengers in r v Cheeseman
no because they weren’t passing by or through the toilet, they were waiting for him.
explain the golden rule
starts by looking at the words literal meaning in the act but if it were to end in a manifested absurdity or unjust result they can use the golden rule
what is the broad approach in the golden rule
grammatical and ordinary sense of the words may be modified as to avoid absurdity lord wensleydale and grey v pearson
what case links to the broad approach with the golden rule
re Sigsworth,
explain the re Sigsworth case
the deceased person had not made a will, intestate, so the administration of estates act 1925 came into effect, this act said that the son would inherit the mothers estate as he was the mothers issue. however the son had murdered the mother so this was a problem, as the court didn’t want the murderer to benefit from his crime so the court decided that the issue inherits in the absence of a will but not when the issue has murdered the deceased.
what is the narrow approach in the golden rule
lord reid jones v dpp
if the words are capable of more that one meaning then you are allowed to chose between the meanings.
what is the case that links to the narrow approach
r v allen
explain r v allen case
he tried to commit bigamy (marrying more than one person at once) the oapa 1861outlines this offence. but there is two ways to interpret the word marriage, being legally married and going through the wedding ceremony therefore they chose the second definition, so he was guilty
explain how the mischief rule works.
the mischief rule requires judges to identify the mischief ie problem, parliament was trying to stop by making the statute and interpret the statute and try and stop the mischief heydons case gives us four questions to ask when using this rule, what was the common law before the act, what was the mischief the common law did not provide, what was the remedy parliament created, what was the reason for the remedy.
smith v hughes
the staturte the court was interpreting wa sthe street offence act 1959 which tried to stop prostitutes from harassing passers by, but the appellants were in their windows and balconies harassing men and its problematic because they weren’t in the street, so they modified the meaning of street to include the balconies. therefore it is now an offence for a common prostitute to loiter or solicit on the street in public [lace for the purpose of prostitution.
royal college of nursing v dhss
the statute they were interpreting was the abortion act 67, there was a problem because nurses weren’t medically registered practitioners so shouldn’t be helping with the abortion however they changed it it involve nurses as they wanted to prevent backstreet operations.
what did lord denning’s say about the purposive rule
lord denning said we sit here to find out the intention of parliament and we do that better by filling in the gaps than by making a nonsense out of literal meanings.
what did lord simmons argue about the purposive approach
argued that this approach was a naked usurpation of the legislative function under the thin guise of interpretation, ie basically taking over parliament and pretending to interpret.
jones v tower boot co
C was suing his employer because of racial harassment. they interpreted race relations act 1976. under this act employees were liable for acts of their employees when done by a person in course of employment. but the employer said he wasnt liable because the harassment wasnt part of the employees jobs. however the court used the purposive rule so he was liable.
r v registrar general ex parte smith
the claimant was adopted, mentally ill and murdered his adopted mother, he was applying for getting his birth certificate in order to fine his mother. however he had expressed that he wanted to kill her. the act that covered the rules on this was the adoption act 1976. which sais if someone wants their birth certificate they shall give it to them ie they have to however they said no as it wasnt the parliament purpose to harm or put the mother in danger.
Where are intrinsic aids found
inside the statute itself
what is involved in intrinsic aids
short titles
definition section
marginal notes
the short title is
the name and date of the act
they include the date so you can find definitions of the words in the dictionary from that year
a definition section is and example
sections of an act that define the act so all judges understand the act
oxford v moss the d stole exam answers,
marginal notes and example
r v montila they are added by parliamentary council but dont have to be followed
whats an extrinsic aid
the rules also allow the judges to use external aids, in other words help found outside of the statute itself
what are examples of extrinsic aids
dictionary
hansard
law reform reports
the interpretations act
what is hansard
an edited record of all the proceedingsin both houses of parliament.
why is hansard useful
judges can look if they want to find what parliaments intention was in passing a particular statute.
what did davis v johnson say and what did lord dennings say in response about hansard
D V J said that they did nto allow the use of hansard, and lord dennings said that not to use hansard would be to grope around in the dark for the meaning of an act without switching the lights on.
what did pepper v hart say about the three circumstances when your allowed to use hansard
1) words of an act are ambiguous and could lead to an absurdity.
2) there was a statement in hansard relating to the statute in question.
3) the statement would clear up ambiguity.
why was lord mackay not allow hansard
its costly and timely.
what was lord bridges’ compramise in hansard
judges can only look at hansard if its relevant
cases for law reform reports
black-clawson international ltd v papierwerke
DPP v Bull
