summary of statutory interpretation

Question 1

why do judges use statutory interpretation?

Answer 1

judges use this to determine what a word or phrase in a statue means

Question 2

what is statutory interpretation

Answer 2

statutory interpretation is term used to describe the way judges interpret statues and the true meaning of them

Question 3

why may a meaning of a word be unclear?

Answer 3

a meaning of a word may be unclear because:

A BROAD TERM IS used example Brock v dpp and the interpretation used under the dangerous dogs act 1991 .
AMBIGUITY - a word having two or more menaings
- a DRAFTING ERROR, this may include an error that has been unnoticed because of the amount of times a bill has been amended or in old acts that have been codified fo example s18 of the offences against the persons act uses cause and s20 of the OATP uss the word inflict this has caused problem sin cases such as RV BURSTOW

• NEW DEVELOPMENTS - new tech may mean that an old act does not cover modern day situations for example royal college of nursing v DHSS where medical science has changed since the aborshon act 1967
• NEW LANGUAGE - MENAING OF WORDS CAN CHANGE OVER TIME SEE IN CEESEMNA V DPP AND THE WORD ASSENGER

Question 4

what are the rules of statutory interpretation ?

Answer 4

• the literal rule
• the golden rule
• the mischief rule
• the purposive approach

Question 5

what is the literal rule and when was it established ?

Answer 5

the lietral rule means that a word is given its plain , ordinary and grammatical meaning even if it leads to a manifest absurdity this was established from lord Esther in R V judge of the city of london

Question 6

name 2 examples cases relating to the literal rule

Answer 6

Whitley v chapel - this is where it was made an offence to impersonate any person entitled to a vote however the person was dead and because of the use of the literal rule the person was acquitted

LENR v Berriman - this is where a railway worker was killed whilst oiling and maintaining the tracks and because of the literal rule the statute said that a person can only receive compensation if they were relaying and repairing the tracks which lead to the window not being able to gain compensation

Question 7

Give 3 advantages and disadvantage of using the literal rule

Answer 7

ADV
1- if follows the principle of parliamentary sovereignty as parliament is the rightful law making body and judges should apply the law just as they have written it
2 - it makes the law more certain so people are more aware of the consequences and judges are aware of how to apply it
3- it forces parliament to right acts more clearly to prevent absurdity from happening

DISA
1 - there is an assumption that every act will be precise and realistic with its wording when in reality this is not the case because it may no tbe possible for the act to cover all situations
2- it acn resut in absurd , unjust and unfair outcomes for example LENR V berrimen
3- some may say this principle is lazy such as professioor zandelr

Question 8

hat is the golden rule ?

Answer 8

the golden rule is a modification of the literal rule used to avoid absurd outcome

Question 9

how many ways can the golden rule be used?

Answer 9

the golden rule can be used in 2 ways

1- Narrow application where a word is cable of more that none meaning example jones v dpp
2 - wider application where the word has only one meaning but it would result in a repugnant situation

Question 10

give 2 example cases that use the narrow approach

Answer 10

• r v Allen , this is where s,57 of the OAPA marrying whilst married would be an offense of bigamy but marrying whilst already married would be impossible so courts changed this too shall marry interpreted into shall go to the marriage ergonomy

2- alder v george

Question 11

name a case that uses the wider approach

Answer 11

RE SIGWORTH - this is where a D killed his mother to inherit her property even though it was just as he was the only child and his mother didn’t make will it would have been wrong to inherit the peppery as a result of a criminal act which established that the next of kin that kills to inherit cannot legally do so.

Question 12

name 3 advantages and disadvantages of statutory interpretation

Answer 12

ADV
1- it alows judges to choose the most reasonable mening where there is more than one meaning ( narrow approach)
2- it avoids absurd results
3_ it avoids injustices for example in RE sigworth

DISADV
1- IT is limited in its use where it can only be use dif word has more than one meaning
2- undermines paralmentry soverignty as judges are intreprating law
3

Question 13

what is the mischief rule ?

Answer 13

the mischief rule is used for the courts to see what the old law was before the act was assed to discover the gap of the micheief

Question 14

where does the definition of the mischief rule come from

Answer 14

HAYDENS case

Question 15

what are the 4 rules for consideration ?

Answer 15

1- what was the common law before the act was passed
2- what was the mischief and defect of which the common law did not provide
3- what was the remedy parliament used to cure the disease?
4- the true reason of the remedy

Question 16

name 2 cases that used the mischief rule

Answer 16

smith v huges - this is where it was an offense for a prostitute to solicit customers from the street or public place but because they argue they were on the roofs the appealed however courts used the mischief rule to discuss the purpose of the act was for men to walk the streets without being solicited
2- royal college of nursing v DHSS

Question 17

3 ADV and 3 DISAD of the mischief rule

Answer 17

ADV

• it allows judges more flexability
• it promotes the purpose of the law
• it allows judges to look back at what the law intended

DISADV
1- using the mischief rule can lead to uncertainty and lawyers cant accurately advise their clients
2- it is not democratic
3- risk that judges are filling the law with their own views on how it should be shaped

Question 18

what is the purposive approach ?

Answer 18

the purosive apprach refres to teh courts trying to find out what parlaimnets intentions were

Question 19

what did lord bingham say about statutory interpretation

Answer 19

he states that the role of statutory interpretation was to assist with the meaning of words that are unclear

Question 20

name cases that use the purposive approach

Answer 20

JONES V TOWWE BOOT AND CO - JOENS WAS BEING SUBJECT TO HARASSMENT AND RCIAL ABUSE whilst taking out his claim his employers argued that they had nothing to do with it as it was outside the course of employment however the course disagreed and said the purpose of the race relations act was to prevent discrimination at work and were found liable
2- R quintavalle v secutray of state

Question 21

ADV of purposive approach and DISAD

Answer 21

the purposive approach used extrinsic aids which is beneficial especially to unclear words - it leads to justices
- it concerns parlaiments intentions

disadv

• its is undemocratic as unelected unaccountable judges are making the law
• it makes the law less certain as it is impossible to predict outcomes
• it relies to heavily on extrinsic aids

Question 22

why are instrinsic and extrinsic aids used ?

Answer 22

intrinsic and externisc aids can be used to discover what par aliments intentions were.

Question 23

explain instrinsic aids give some examples?

Answer 23

ntrinsic aids are within the statue that help with making the words clear such as the short or long title of the act that indicates the purpose of the act eg the theft act 1968 , the interpretation section of an act that specifies the meanings of unclear wods in acts eg in the theft act

Question 24

explain extrinsic aids and give examples

Answer 24

extrinsic aids are materials that can be found outside of the act that such as dictionaries this was used in the case of Cheeseman v DPP and also includes the use of Hansard and law reform reports

Question 25

what is Hansard law

Answer 25

hansard is the record of parliamentary debates that take place in the HOL and the HOC it was used to solve the interpretation of domestic violence and matrimonial proceedings act 1976

• Lord Denning sees this as useful

Question 26

adv and disadv of hansard

Answer 26

adva-
it can find out hat ministers proposing legislation where trying to achieve ,
- lord denning argues its usefulness

disadv

• there is a ack of clarity, it may not be reliable ,because of he cut and thrust nature of parliamentary debates
• parliamnetry debets are not always easy to identify

Question 27

rules of language

Answer 27

the rules of language are used as an aid to interpret legislation relating to lists of words
- The purposive approach allows judges to be open about examining the background to the legislation.