Statutuory Interpretation Flashcards
What is statutory interpretation?
It is the role of the courts to decide what parliament meant by the words used in the statute
What are the 4 rules?
- Literal rule
- Golden rule
- Mischief rule
- The purposive approach
What is the literal rule?
Judges give words in statutes their ordinary natural dictionary meaning
Case of literal rule?
Fisher v Bell
- Flick knife in shop window with price tag
- ‘Offer for sale’
- Technical legal meaning of ‘offer for sale’ from contract law, under which putting an article in a shop window is not offer for sell
- Not guilty
Another case in literal rule?
Whitely V Chappell
- Impersonating voting
- ‘Entitled to vote’
- Not guilty because literal meaning
Advantages of literal rule?
- Best way to interpret the intention of the parliament is to follow the literal meaning
- Encourages certainty
- Doing Parliament a service by drawing faulty
What are the disadvantages of literal rule?
- Lead to an absurd conclusion
- Not what parliament intended
- Words might have one or more meaning
- External aids could have cleared up any uncertainty over the interpretation of the Act
What extern aid to the judges use for literal rule?
Dictionary
What is the golden rule?
Modification of literal rule and may be used if a judge considers that the literal rule would lead to an absurd outcome
What is narrow way in golden way?
Words are capable of having more than one meaning, the meaning that is least absurd should be used
What is the wider way in the golden rule?
Modify clear words in a statute to avoid an absurdity
Advantages of the golden rule?
- Provides an ‘escape rule’ to prevent absurdity and injustice
- Judges put into practice what parliament really means.
- It allows the judges to choose the most sensible meaning
Disadvantages of the golden rule?
- Deciding when a literal interpretation produces an absurd result
- Difficult for lawyer to advise their client
- Unelected judges are bringing to make law
- Can be undemocratic
- Very limited in its use
What case is the narrow way in golden rule?
Adler V George
- D was caught inside an RAF base and staging a protest. He was accused of obstructing a member of armed forces
- ‘In the vicinity of ‘
- The court held that ‘in the vicinity of’ could mean ‘near to’ or ‘near within’ and chose to secure conviction
What case was the wider way in golden rule?
Re Sigsworth
- Son murdered his mother to get estate
- No ambiguity in the Act but didn’t want him to get away
- Son was guilty
What are the four factors in mischief rule?
- What was the common law before the statute?
- What problem or mischief was the statute trying to remedy(sort out)?
- What was the remedy(solution) proposed by parliament?
- What was the true reason for that remedy?
What case used in mischief rule?
Smith V Hughes
- 2 women and one was attracting male customers from balcony and other on window. ( prostitutes)
- ‘In a street or public place’
- Enables people to walk in public being harassed
- Guilty
What was the case in mischief rule?
Royal college of nursing V Dhss
- A lawful abortion by nurses
- ‘Registered medical practitioner’
- Allowed nurse to carry out abortion
Advantages of the mischief rule?
- Helps avoid absurd and unjust outcomes
- Emphasis on making sure that mischief or gap in law prior to statute is remedied
- Follow will of parliament
- Promotes flexibility
Disadvantages of mischief rule?
- Relies on being able to find out what mischief in the common law
What is purposive approach?
General purpose of parliament in passing the Act and then interpret the Act to fulfil that purpose
What case in purposive approach?
Coltman v Bibby tankers
- C died on ship due to fault in equipment
- ‘Equipment’
- Equipment includes a ship
- Company liable because of harm caused to employee
Another case in purposive approach?
R v Registrar general, ex part smith
- Violent murderer who was adopted whether to tell the murderer
- Adoption Act 1976
- Goes against the general purpose of the statute to provide info that may cause harm
Advantages of purposive approach?
- Avoid an absurd and unjust outcome
- Promotes flexibility
- Enables law to be kept up to date
Disadvantages of purposive approach?
- Enables unelected judges to take over the function of parliament in making new law
- Impossible to discover the general purpose of parliament
- Less suited to the more precise and detailed structure of English legislation
What are the aids to interpretation called?
Internal and external
What is internal aid?
Clues within statute itself that may help to make its meaning clearer
What is external aid?
Materials which are outside a statute which the judges may use
What does the internal aid use?
- Short and long title of statute
- Definition sections
- Schedules toward end of the state which give extra detail
- Preamble( introduction to the statute) is a useful clue of purpose of the statute
What does the external aids include?
- Dictionary
- A law reform report
- Interpretation Act
- Hansard( official record of what is said in parliament)
- International treaty
