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Paper on Interpretation of Statutory Rules in UK

   

Added on  2020-05-04

11 Pages2974 Words450 Views
Running Head: Law 1Law

Law2Introduction:The legal system of United Kingdom were actually based on the law made by the judge (law developed by the decision made by the judges in the previous case laws, which is known as common law or case law) till the time period of 17th Century. Each jurisdiction has power to develop own forms of common law. From that time, new laws and policies were introduced through Acts of Parliament, and these Acts were actually inspired by the policies of the present government. It must be noted that, till today development of case laws are considered as important source of law. In other words, statement made by judges while deciding any case becomes binding on later judges, and in this way it becomes the law. From last few years, rules of statutory interpretation had been attacked for being worthless and harmful. The main aim of this paper is to critically evaluate the interpretation of statutory rules inUK. This paper also considers the value of these rules and possible changes which can be done I these rules. The importance of this topic is considerable because main function of modern appellate courts includes the interpretation of statutes, and it is also considered as conventional for Courts to make use of the rules while making interpretation of statutes (Street, 2013). Structure of this paper includes various topics such as whether statutory principles ensures fairness and consistency, whether judges play constitutional role while applying rules of statutory interpretation, and what changes can be done in the rules of interpretation. Lastly, paperis concluded with brief conclusion which summarizes the important facts of the paper. Rules of statutory interpretation:Statutory interpretation is considered as action of the Court for the purpose of understanding and explaining the meaning of the legislation. There are number of cases which are appealed because

Law3of the interpretation. In this purpose, Lord Hailsham, a senior English judge stated “almost 9 out of 10 cases decided by Court of Appeal and the House of Lords involve issue related to meaning of words contained in statute or secondary legislation.” Judges use three rules for interpreting thestatutes and these rules are stated below:Golden Rule: this rule is considered as exception of the literal rule, and under this rule judges used the meaning of the words. This rule is applied when literal meaning contradicts the intention of the parliament. This can be understood through case law Greyv. Pearson (1857) 6 HL Cas 1. In this case, Court held that ordinary meaning of the words was modified for the purpose of avoiding absurdity. There is one more case law Keene v. Muncaster 1980. In this case, Court stated it was necessary to request the permission from the defendant. Literal rule: Literal rule is also known as ordinary meaning rule and plain meaning rule. In this rule, Court gives literal meaning to the words of the statute without considering whether it provides any sensible meaning or not. This can be understood through case law Whitley v. Chappell [1868] 4 LRQB 147. In this case, Court applied the literal meaning of the statute and stated that there was no fault of defendant. There is one more case law R. C. v. Hinchy 1960 (note Pepper v. Hart 1992). In this case, Court held that itwas possible to take the intention of the parliament from the words they enacted in the Act. Mischief rule: final rule of statutory interpretation is the mischief rule. In this rule, judge tries to determine the intention of legislature. In other words, what is the “mischief and defect” that the statute in question has set out toremedy, and what ruling would effectivelyimplementthis remedy? (Translegal, n.d.).

Law4Fairness and consistency through the principles of statutory interpretation:The rules of statutory interpretation have been attacked for various reasons such as being inconsistent, uncertain, and undesirable in both the manner as what they defined and how they are applied by the courts. These attacks directly imposed on the rules, but other attacks include specific types of rule only such as literal rule and those rules which are stated by extrinsic aids inthe process of interpretation. If effect of statute is not predictable in nature then no options are available which stated in advance that what rules court choose to follow or ignore. It can be said that rules of interpretation can be considered as bag of tricks from which court pick rules which are respectable-sounding for the purpose of justify any result that is desired by the judges. Rules of interpretation also provide shield to the judges behind whom judges can be protected for the purpose of avoiding carefully thinking from the solutions related to the problems before them and also for not providing the justification in context of their decision. This approach encouragesthe laziness and hypocrisy on the side of judges (Johnstone, 1954). Under literal meaning rule, the words of the statute are understood in their ordinary and actual meaning. These rules were read literally and there is no need to analyze these rules for determining any different meaning. In other words, it considered the plain words of the legislation. This can be understood through case law London and North Eastern Railway v Berriman [1946] AC 278. In this case, a railway worker was killed while doing oiling at the railway track, and there was no look at point. Court held that compensation was not granted to Mrs. Berriman for the death of her husband because relevant act stated that compensation was granted to only those workers who were ‘relaying’ or ‘repairing’ the line, and act of oiling did not fell in any of these activities. This result was very harsh and unjust. Court further stated that it was not possible to apply golden rule because meaning was not absurd (Catalogue, n.d.).

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