LAWS 11059 Project 1: Statutory Interpretation Research and Problem

This project delves into the principles of statutory interpretation using the Biosecurity Act 2015 as a primary example, alongside a relevant case study. The assignment addresses key aspects such as the correct title of the act, its introduction date, the minister involved, and the section outlining its purpose, alongside a discussion of the act's objectives. The report also identifies the dictionary section within the act and provides examples of plain English drafting. The case study involves Dr. Sansa Stark and the Institute of Human Virology, analyzing regulatory compliance issues, particularly concerning regulations related to misconduct and health and safety protocols. The analysis includes advice provided by Dr. Baratheon to Sansa, considering factors such as deadlines, residency, and the applicability of health and safety legislation. The project offers a comprehensive understanding of how laws are interpreted and applied in practical scenarios.

STATUTORY
INTERPRETATION- LAWS
11059 PROJECT 1
RESEARCH EXERCISE
AND A PROBLEM
QUESTION

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
QUESTION 1...................................................................................................................................3
Correct title of act.......................................................................................................................3
When was the Biosecurity Act 2015 introduced and who was the minister at that time in the
parliament?.................................................................................................................................3
Section of Biosecurity Act 2015 which used to describe the purpose or objective of act?
Purpose or objective of act in real?............................................................................................4
Dictionary section in the act........................................................................................................4
Examples of plain English drafting within act............................................................................5
QUESTION 2...................................................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Statutory interpretation is defined as the process through which the court interprets and
applies the legislation to the different types of cases and to solve the cases. The interpretation is
relevant to the interpreting of the different types of statute and various types of laws and
regulations1. This interpretation in general is referred to as the providing the meaning of the
different types of laws and rules and regulations relating to the cases. In the present report the
Biosecurity act 2015 will be discussed. Further a case study will be discussed which will outline
the issues which Sansa will be facing and what will the Dr. Baratheon will give advice to the
situation of Sansa.
QUESTION 1
Correct title of act
Correct title, 2016 <https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2017C00303>.
The act was passed on to manages the varieties of different sort of risk which is generally
associated with the biosecurity in Australia. Biosecurity Act 2015 was supersedes the Quarantine
Act 1908, the new act of Australia was given title of 'Biosecurity Act 2015'.
When was the Biosecurity Act 2015 introduced and who was the minister at that time in the
parliament?
Introduction of Biosecurity Act 2015, 2015 <https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?
g=0a17f9aa-04bd-4fc1-9549-d716eedb46a9>.
Biosecurity Act 2015 was introduced in the parliament on 14 May 2015 and was enacted
on 16 June 2015. This bill was passed on in the parliament with the bipartisan (Support from
both ruling and opposition party in the parliament) support on 14 May 2015. This act was
passed on in the parliament as one of the most substantial and significance piece of the
legislation which has been passed through the Abbott Government (Government led by the prime
minister Tony Abbott, a member of the Liberal National Coalition). This act at the time of
1 Gluck, A.R. and Posner, R.A., 2017. Statutory Interpretation on the Bench: A Survey of
Forty-Two Judges on the Federal Courts of Appeals. Harv. L. Rev.. 131. p.1298.

introduction in the parliament was in general was not meant to change the operational function
of the parliament, it was more clearly describe in the parliament so that it become really easy to
use in general and it used to become easier for the different sort of the interested party in
understanding the same as well in the parliament. Hence, it has ultimately reduced the
complexity for both the parties in administering and understanding the need of the same and
earned support from both the parties in the parliament. A change which was derived from the
new bill was related to the compliance and enforcement of power in general.
Section of Biosecurity Act 2015 which used to describe the purpose or objective of act? Purpose
or objective of act in real?
Objective or purpose of the act is defined in the section 4 of the first chapter, it has been
described that this act is brought in the market to manage the varieties of different sort of things
in the organization, it has been described that it is primary introduced to manage the risk related
to biosecurity in market. Other managing element of act is to manage the listed diseases of
Human diseases and other infectious human disease. To manage the human diseases or any other
sort of the infectiousness diseases which is generally entering into the Australian territory or
emerging from the Australian territory, establishing themselves or spreading themselves in the
market. Another managing is related to the risk associated with the ballast water. Last managing
emergencies of the act is the biosecurity emergency and human bio security emergencies.
Another purpose of bringing this sort of act in the market was in regards providing effect
to the Australian international right and different sort of the obligation which generally used to
include in the Internal Health Regulation, SPS agreement, Ballast water and UN convention of
Sea and the biodiversity convention.
Dictionary section in the act
In every statue or the law there are many different types of terms and statements which
cannot be understood in easy manner. Thus, because of this there is always a section in the law
that includes the meaning of every term which is hard and tough to understand. This is
particularly because of the reason that when the normal person or the person who is not from the
legal background then they have many issues relating to the understanding of the laws and its
related terms. Thus, this section of the law that is the dictionary is very helpful as this includes

the meaning of the common words and statements. This is generally termed as glossary and
includes the meaning of every word2. This is generally placed at the end of the law under the
name of glossary and all the meaning of the hard words and confusing statements are included.
In addition to this the definitions are being provided in the starting of the laws as well. This is
generally because of the reason that when the definition will be cleared in advance then it will be
much easier for the reader to read in further as the concept will be much clearer to the people
reading the law.
Examples of plain English drafting within act
Yes, in the Biosecurity Act 2015 there are at many place the signs of plain English as this
will include the use of simple language which will make the reader more comfortable as the
language is simple3. In general, the terms and statements in the laws and the rules and regulations
are very essential to be written in very simple and plain language as this will make every person
whether belonging to the legal background or the non- legal background. For instance, under the
Biosecurity act 2015, there is so much use of plain and simple words and working. For example,
the meaning of associate is provided in many easy languages that is it is referred to as the person
who is either consultant, adviser or the representative of the employer or employee. In addition
to this the meaning of conveyance is also being provided in very simple and plain English that is
an aircraft, vehicle, vessel or a train or any form of transport which is prescribed by regulations
in termed as conveyance.
QUESTION 2
Case study
In the present case the Commonwealth government has established a new institute that is
Institute of Human Virology which is situated in the Northern territory in the Central Australia
which is made under the Australian academy of Science act 2018. In the case study the Dr Sansa
Stark is the reported alleged for misconducting within the experiment over the novel strain of
human virus which has taken place in the Institute in the Northern territory. After the
2 Easterbrook, F.H., 2017. The Absence of Method in Statutory Interpretation. The
University of Chicago Law Review, pp.81-97.
3 Fallon Jr, R.H., 2019. The Statutory Interpretation Muddle. Nw. UL Rev.. 114. p.269.

investigation it was seen that she breached the protocol and now she is working under the
regulations. From the case study it was seen that the Sansa was a child prodigy who was due to
turn 18 on August 1, 2020 and was living over the borders of Queensland at Wintefell which is a
few windy roads to the Virology institute. The copy of allegation which Sansa received through
her email on 1st August includes a ‘show cause’ which includes the different types of notice
which are issued under different types of regulations which are as follows-
These regulations help the respondent who are wishing to be heard on the show can lodge
a written response with the registrar by 9 am one month from the date.
The 29 regulation includes the fact that it provides the employees who is not yet 18 at the
time of notice of allegation is entitled to an in- person hearing.
In addition to this the regulation 30 provides an employee that whose residential address
during the term is more than 500 kms form the institute will be provided an additional five days
to provide response to the authorities.
In addition to this major rule is that the response must be lodged by 9 am on the due date
considered only and not before or after that.
Also, as per the regulation 32 it requires for registrar to assess the penalty for considering
various types of issues and it shall consider the past employment history and conduct of the
employee as well at the older place4.
The regulation 36 also provides the registrar to allow the employee to appear in the
person at the hearing of the complaint if the registrar is of view that the allegations are very
serious to have the personal appearance of the employee themselves.
Thus, in case of Sansa there are many regulations which are applicable over her and
which are not be being followed by her. Thus, this may cause her liable for the spreading of the
novel human virus being spread in the area of place. Hence, for this the Dr Baratheon has
provided for the following advice to Sansa in order to solve the issue of Sansa.
The first fact is that it is the major regulation that the complaint has to be lodged by 9 am
at the same day5. But Sansa was not able to lodge the show at 9:45 am and not at 9 am which was
4 Mendelson, N.A., 2018. Change, Creation, and Unpredictability in Statutory
Interpretation: Interpretive Canon Use in the Roberts Court's First Decade. Mich. L.
Rev.. 117. p.71.
5 Peczenik, A. and Bergholz, G., 2016. Statutory interpretation in Sweden.

the regulation for the lodging of the complaint. In addition to this the she lodged the written
complaint on 2 September but it actually happened on 1st of September so this criterion was also
not met and due to this this was also not met. But here there can be much consideration as there
was holiday in Queensland on 1st September and because of this there can be some consideration
for Sansa.
Along with this there was a regulation that the person who is having residence in more
than 500 km area will be given additional five- day timeframe to give the response. In this
category the Sansa is having opportunity as she is living 600 km away from the institute and she
can avail the opportunity of getting the additional five days for the providing of response.
Under this the major law which was applicable to the case was the health and safety act
as this affected the health within the institute to a great extent. This is majorly because of the
reason that if the health and safety act will not be complied then this will have a great impact on
the working capacity of the company6. The major reason underlying this fact is that when the
company will be having people suffering from the novel virus then this will affect the health of
the company and as a result of this the working efficiency of the company will decrease. In
contrast to this if the company will comply with all the health and safety measures and rules and
regulations then this will have a great impact over the working efficiency of the company. This is
particularly because of the reason that when the company will follow all the rules and regulation
then the employees will know how they have to take care of their health and safety within the
workplace and this will make sure that all the employees within the workplace are safe and
healthy.
CONCLUSION
In the end it is concluded that statutory interpretation is very much essential as if this will
not be present then it might be possible that the people do not understand the law in proper and
effective manner. The major reason behind this is the fact that when the people will easily
understand the law then they can easily apply this in the business. Thus, this will provide better
information and knowledge to the people and they will work according to that only. Hence, the
6 Kozel, R.J., 2018. Statutory Interpretation, Administrative Deference, and the Law of
Stare Decisis. TEx. L. REv.. 97. p.1125.

current report discussed about the Biosecurity act 2015 and the case study of Sansa which was
related to the health and safety measures to be followed by the company.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Correct title, 2016 [ONLINE] Available through
<https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2017C00303>.
Introduction of Biosecurity Act 2015, 2015 [ONLINE] Available
throughhttps://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=0a17f9aa-04bd-4fc1-9549-
d716eedb46a9