Legal Method and Skills: A Case Study of Pepper v Hart (1993) AC 66

This report discusses the case of Pepper v Hart (1993) AC 66 and covers aspects such as the decision impact, statutory interpretation method, and other approaches that can be utilized. It also provides a comparison of other statutory interpretation approaches and briefs three cases in which different statutory interpretation approaches were implemented.

LEGAL METHOD AND
SKILLS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
1. The decision impact of Pepper v Hart (1993) AC 66..............................................................1
2. The statutory interpretation method used in the Pepper v Hart case.......................................1
3. Comparison of other statutory interpretation approach considered in the Pepper v Hart case
.....................................................................................................................................................2
4. Brief of 3 cases in which different statutory interpretation approaches implemented............2
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................3
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................4

INTRODUCTION
Legal methods are the ones who perform an arrangement of tasks based on the particular
methods of logical thinking. These tasks are related to the generation of law, their interpretation,
using them into litigation and transactions along with writing and reading them. With the help of
appropriate legal skills, learners are able to understand and design their studies in complimentary
manner (McConville, 2017). It enhances the abilities of individuals to use legal sources and
ideas to stand them into good context. This report will discuss the case of Pepper v Hart (1993)
AC 66 through which certain aspects will be discussed such as the decision impact, statutory
interpretation method and other approaches that can be utilized.
MAIN BODY
1. The decision impact of Pepper v Hart (1993) AC 66
This case belongs to John Hart and nine other teachers at Malvern College who benefited
from a concessionary fee scheme which allows their children's to be educated at the college for
one-fifth fee in comparison to other students. As per the finance act 1976, Inland revenue
attempted to tax this benefits but the disputes arises over the interpretation of the Act. The case
went to the House of Lords, under which the decision had been taken in favour of Hart
(Landmark and et.al., 2020). Hence, the decision generates both positive and negative impacts
over respective people such as the case provide positive impact for Hart and nine other teachers
as they took advantage which allows their children's to be educated at one-fifth costs.
While on the other hand, the decision took by the House of Lords are highly negatively
affected by this decision as it raises the questions about the separation of powers as the
judgement had been taken on the basis of Hansard which was subjected to an assault and hence
the judicial decisions have limited the usage of Pepper case by the courts.
2. The statutory interpretation method used in the Pepper v Hart case
The Pepper v Hart is a reference point judgment of the House of Lords on the usage of
legislature history in the representation of statutory. The court of the UK established the
principle that when primary legislation is indeterminate then in specific circumstances the court
may refer to certain statements that have been prepared in the House of Lords or House of
Commons in an endeavour to illustrate the meaning of the statute law. Within thisparticular case,
1

the decision had been taken on the basis of Hansard which the official report which consists of
said details of members in parliament at the time when the Act was debated. This is the only
document that permits the decision in favour of Hart where the House of Lords accepted that
Hansard could be utilized in most limited manner but in this situation, the whole decision had
been taken on the basis of Hansard. In this specific case, purposive interpretation approach had
been considered as according to this approach the replacement occurs for the golden rule that
determines other similar cases (Brown, 2019).
3. Comparison of other statutory interpretation approach considered in the Pepper v Hart case
In the case of Pepper v Hart, it has ben identified that purposive approach of statutory
interpretation had been taken into consideration as according to this plan of action, the focus was
on what the parliament intended to do when passing the new law in order to resolve any specific
issue. Although it has been considered as one of the modern approach of interpretation but the
decision that had been made within the particular case was not that much effective in the eyes of
the legislatives. After the decision, the academicians questioned the logic behind the changes
that has been done within the laws and creates a situation of dispute over the interpretation of the
House of Lords who made decisions on the basis of Hansard.
From the case that had been studied, it has been identified that apart from purposive
approach, literal approach would become better option for implementing into the specific
situation as according to this, the parliament must mean what they said but it should me
meaningful enough to make sense of the statute (Mcgarry and Spence, 2020). With the
involvement of literal approach within the Pepper v Hart case, the decision must be effective
enough which can never be criticized by other members as according to this approach, no scope
for further judgment over the personal opinions entertained, the judges have to respect the
parliamentary supremacy and encourage drafting precision.
4. Brief of 3 cases in which different statutory interpretation approaches implemented
In the case of Fisher v Bell, divisional court the literal rule had been applied under which
an information was preferred by Chief Inspector against James Bell that the defendant at his
premises unlawfully did offer for sale a knife which had a blade which opened automatically by
2

giving hand pressure displayed in the window of his shop. The case established that such items
displayed together with the price label is treated as invitation by seller and not an offer.
In the Golden rule for statutory interpretation in which the literal rule given an illogical
result which was not the intention of the parliament, the judge substitute the reasonable meaning
in the shed of the codified (Khaki and et.al., 2020). This rule had been applied in the Adler v
George case in which an offence to obstruct a member of the armed force in the locality of the
impermissible palace. The defendant was presented in the prohibited area at the time of
obstruction.
The mischief rule was applied into Hughes v Smith case according to which mistake had
been made by Mr. Hughes who was a horse trainer who bought quantity of oats that were the
similar to the sample he had shown (Robinson and et.al., 2018). However, Hughes mis-identifed
the quality of oats, and the horse could not eat them. Hence, Hughes refuses to pay for that. In
this case, Smith had made no fault and liable to get payments as sale contract was still valid.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it has been concluded that the basic purpose of statutory
interpretation helps the judges to determine the purpose of the legislation in fruitful manner.
3

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Brown, A.E., 2019. New judicial approaches. In Intellectual Property, Climate Change and
Technology. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Khaki, S., and et.al., 2020. Convolutional neural networks for image-based corn kernel detection
and counting. Sensors. 20(9). p.2721.
Landmark, L.J., and et.al., 2020. Evaluating special educator and transition personnel knowledge
and skills for working with diverse families and students during the transition process:
Preliminary development and validation of an assessment instrument. Journal of
Vocational Rehabilitation.52(3). pp.317-331.
McConville, M. ed., 2017. Research methods for law. Edinburgh University Press.
Mcgarry, J. and Spence, S., 2020. Constitutional Statutes—Roots and Recognition. Statute Law
Review. 41(3). pp.378-394.
Robinson, E.C., and et.al., 2018. Multimodal surface matching with higher-order smoothness
constraints. Neuroimage. 167. pp.453-465.
4