Essay Outline The Rules For Statutory Interpretation
P5: Outline the rules for Statutory Interpretation
Judges are highly qualified professionals that enforce the law in court while dealing with cases but sometimes, judges need help understanding the law that has been put in place by Parliament. Statutory interpretation helps judges in court understand a piece of delegated legislation when the words are unclear. There are a few reasons why the meaning of an Act may be uncertain:
• If during the making of the Act, Parliament failed to notice any error in the wordings of the draft.
• If the words used have a very general meaning and can be put into any situation e.g. in the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 one of the phrases says “any dog of the type known as the pit bull terrier”. The word ‘type’ is a very general word.
• If the words are ambiguous and has two or more meaning.
• If the meaning of the words have changed over time due to social and technological changes e.g. In Royal College of Nursing v DHSS 1981 the term “medical practitioner” now includes nurses or midwives whole help with abortion and child birth.
• If the Act is out-dated and does not cover new situation.
Intrinsic and extrinsic aids.
When judges are interpreting a piece of delegated legislation, they have a …show more content…
Judge are still required to find the literal meaning of words but the golden rule allows then to make an interpretation that does not lead to unjust decisions. The narrow application of the golden rule is used when a word is ambiguous and has more than one meaning. The judge picks the meaning that is logical and fair. This form of the golden rule was used in R v Allen where a man was charged with adultery. The wordings of the Offences Against the Persons Act 1861 had two interpretation one of which will let the man go free and anyone else who was accused of said crime. The court decided to go with the second meaning as it was more logical and would avoid unjust decisions. The guy was found
Judges are highly qualified professionals that enforce the law in court while dealing with cases but sometimes, judges need help understanding the law that has been put in place by Parliament. Statutory interpretation helps judges in court understand a piece of delegated legislation when the words are unclear. There are a few reasons why the meaning of an Act may be uncertain:
• If during the making of the Act, Parliament failed to notice any error in the wordings of the draft.
• If the words used have a very general meaning and can be put into any situation e.g. in the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 one of the phrases says “any dog of the type known as the pit bull terrier”. The word ‘type’ is a very general word.
• If the words are ambiguous and has two or more meaning.
• If the meaning of the words have changed over time due to social and technological changes e.g. In Royal College of Nursing v DHSS 1981 the term “medical practitioner” now includes nurses or midwives whole help with abortion and child birth.
• If the Act is out-dated and does not cover new situation.
Intrinsic and extrinsic aids.
When judges are interpreting a piece of delegated legislation, they have a …show more content…
Judge are still required to find the literal meaning of words but the golden rule allows then to make an interpretation that does not lead to unjust decisions. The narrow application of the golden rule is used when a word is ambiguous and has more than one meaning. The judge picks the meaning that is logical and fair. This form of the golden rule was used in R v Allen where a man was charged with adultery. The wordings of the Offences Against the Persons Act 1861 had two interpretation one of which will let the man go free and anyone else who was accused of said crime. The court decided to go with the second meaning as it was more logical and would avoid unjust decisions. The guy was found