What is meant by Statutory Interpretation?
-Statutory interpretation refers to the process by which courts or judges determine the meaning of legislation (statutes) when there is ambiguity, vagueness, or dispute about the law’s application. In simpler terms, it’s how judges figure out what a law really means and how it should be applied to specific situations.
Presumptions of statutory Interpretation
- No extra territorial effect - parliament is not to intend its laws to apply outside England and Wales unless clearly stated
- Acts do not bind the crown - Act of parliament is presumed not to apply to the crown unless clearly stated
- No fundamental change to existing law - Parliament is presumed not to intend major changes to existing law unless clearly stated
Other presumptions of statutory interpretation
No expropriation without compensation - parliament is presumed not to take away property or vested rights unless compensation is provided
No ousting of court jurisdiction - parliament presumed not to remove or limit the courts’ power to review decisions unless clearly stated
No reversal of the burden of proof in cases - parliament presumed not to make defendants prove their innocence in criminal cases
No retrospective effect - parliament presumed not to apply laws to past events
Presumptions can be overwritten if parliament uses clear wording
Anismic LTD vs Foreign compensation commission (1969)
A law said that decisions of the Commission could not be questioned in any court. This is known as an ouster clause.
The Commission decided that the claimant company was not entitled to compensation for property lost in Egypt after the Suez Crisis.
What the court decided
The court said that even though the statute tried to exclude court review, the Commission had acted outside its legal powers (ultra vires).
Because of this :The decision was legally invalid it was a nullity (treated as if it never existed)
Since it was not a valid “decision” at all, the ouster clause did not apply
Key principle -Courts will not allow Parliament to completely exclude judicial review, especially where a public body makes an error of law or acts beyond its powers.
What is meant by the literal rule?
Giving words used the plain, ordinary, and grammatical meaning to each word literally within a statute.
- If the words are clear, they must be followed even though they may lead to a manifest absurdity
Weakness of the literal rule
- Assumes there is a single and uncontentious literal understanding of all words.
The literal rule and LNER Railways vs Berriman (1946)
- Was held that a woman was not entitled for compensation for her husbands death
- He had been performing maintenance on tracks when killed, but not specifically ‘relaying or repairing’ the tracks as required by the act
When may the literal rule not always produce a good outcome?
R vs Harris - a statute which made it an offence to cut, stab or wound anyone was not held to apply where the defendant bit off the end of the victims nose, the words indicated for an offence to be committed an instrument had to be used.
What is the golden rule regarding the literal rule?
- Words must be given their plain and natural meaning unless it results in a manifest absurdity
Criticisms of the literal rule
- To ignore the literal rule and apply the golden rule implies there is a more rational interpretation
- Even when trying to apply the dictionary meaning of a word there can be more than one meaning
What do supporters of the literal rule say?
- It represents the safest approach for judges when interpreting legislation
- For judges to apply statutes and parliaments to amend them when vague or ambiguous
- There is a substantial difference between amending grammatical errors including punctuation, compared to making material changes or deletions.
What is the ejusdem generis rule?
When a law lists specific things then adds a general word, the general word is interpreted to include only things similar to the specific ones.
e.g dogs, cats and other animals = similar animals, not all other animals
The ejusdem generis rule and Gregory vs Fearn (1953)
According to the Sunday Observance Act 1677 “no tradesman, artificer, workman,
labourer or other person whatsoever” shall work on a Sunday. Thus the Act did not
apply to estate agents because ‘other person whatsoever’ was interpreted to mean those
doing similar jobs to those mentioned
Expressio Unius est exclusio Alterious
The express mention of one thing excludes all others.
e.g The Dangerous Dogs Act only applies to those dogs in the act
Noscitur A Sociis
A word is known by the company it keeps.
Ambiguous or doubtful words may be determined by a reference to those words appearing in association with them.
A case found a cloth bag did not fit into cases and cannisters.
What is the mischief rule?
A way of interpreting statutes. Court tries to figure out what mischief the law was meant to fix and interprets the law in a way that suppresses the problem and gives effect to parliaments intention.
What are the 4 issues that must be considered around mischief rule?
- What was the common law before the making of the act?
- What was the mischief the common law did not provide for
- What remedy has parliament devised for curing the disease of the commonwealth
- What was the true reason for the remedy
Example of the mischief rule
R vs Registrar Ex Parte Smith
Held despite s51 of the Adoption Act 1976 which gave a right to
adopted persons to be given the name of their mothers, it was
not an absolute right and a convicted murder would not be given his mother name as there was a significant risk of crime
resulting in danger to life
What is the purposive approach?
Concentrates on the purpose of the act
- Judges follow the spirit of the law rather than the literal rule
- This is the approach taken by European convention on human rights
- Some judges argue this should always be taken, but others prefer the literal rule
Where was a purposive approach applied?
Fothergill vs Monarch Airlines
- Did not complain about missing luggage in 7 days as required by air travel governing board
- In this case, English law usually distinguishes “loss” from “damage” literally, but that approach does not work for international treaties like the Warsaw Convention.
Instead, the courts interpret the Convention according to its purpose, aiming to give effect to what the treaty was meant to achieve, rather than sticking strictly to literal wording.
Human rights and statutory interpretation
- When judges interpret whether an existing statute is within s3 of the HRA, the approach is to make a declaration of incompatibility if they find the statute breaches the HRA
- It is then for parliament to amend as they see fit
Human rights and statutory interpretation (2)
Judicial presumptions also apply unless statute states otherwise
- Statutes must be read whole - parts in isolation may result in something other than parliament intended
What are internal aids?
Judge will look at statute to see if any of following may assist to ascertain terminology meaning:
- Long statute title
- Short statute title
- Headings
- Sidenotes
- Punctuation
What are external aids?
More applicable to mischief rule or purposive approach
- General historical setting
- Law commission reports
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Common Law21
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Statutory Interpretation - last priority25
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Equity - lowest priority26
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Human Rights act (1998)13
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Negilgence19
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Negligence Defences16
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Companies and partnerships20
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Directors' responsibilities - less responsibility7
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Promoters, shares and debentures13
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Employment law14
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Corporate governance - less priority23
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Corporate governance - cadbury - less priority9
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Parliamentary law making processes9
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Contract Introduction16
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Acceptance and Consideration31
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Terms24
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exemption clauses12
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misrepresentation21
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discharge of the contract21
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Duress and undue influence12
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Illegality and incapacity18
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agency26
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non financial loss13
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remedies17
