This approach to statutory interpretation is based upon various assumptions and a basic common sense approach to interpreting a statute. Unreasonable cannot be determined by its dictionary meaning nor by statutory construction. First, the courts have been required to accept that, from 1973, the purposive approach has to be used when deciding on eu matters. Legal academics have been at the helm of transforming the notion of purposive. In this way, the purposive approach to statutory interpretation shows significant deference to parliament. The purposive approach examinatjqn,1991 the purposive. The defendant pointed his finger, covered by his jacket at a and demanded every penny in the house.
The court interprets statutes using the following approaches. It compares developments in australia and malaysia as well as in the united kingdom. R v bentham 2003 ca statutory interpretation the purposive approach. The constitutional court in 1995 in s v zuma and others 1995 2 sa 642 cc expressly approved of the purposive approach to the interpretation.
Wyeth to examine the textualist or plain meaning approach to statutory interpretation. What is the difference between purposive rule and mischief. Statutory interpretation laws1052 uni study guides. Statutory interpretation the purposive approach d robbed a, whom he believed owed him money. This, of course, is not unique to sales tax statutory construction. The task of judges is mainly to interpret statutory provisions and give effect to the intention of the statute and essence of law. Suggested by kontor new media music haddaway what is love official song what is love 12 mix artist haddaway. The literal approach interpret according to plain, literal meaning of the words. Courts will interpret the words chosen by parliamentarians in accordance with parliaments underlying objects and purpose. The role of the judges when interpreting statute is to put into effect the wishes of the parliament. Nevertheless, the high court of australia by its actual analysis, as shown in the above decisions, has indicated the current approach to statutory interpretation involving the use of text, context and purpose. The purposive approach to statutory interpretation is used in the european court of justice. A case study in the superiority of the purposive approach.
Iii basic rules under the modern purposive approach to interpretation of statutes. The purposive approach is now regarded as the predominant approach to statutory interpretation in the uk. Second, as they use the purposive approach for eu law they are becoming accustomed to using it and more likely to use it to interpret domestic law. Statutory interpretation statutory interpretation or interpreting an act of parliament means judges should interpret the words in the stature in order to decide what they mean and how they should be applied to the cases. In this paper, i do not intend to transverse every conceivable statutory interpretation issue that the court has dealt with, but rather highlight five main topics. The constitutional court in 1995 in s v zuma and others 19952 sa 642 cc expressly approved of the purposive approach to the interpretation of the constitution. Study 17 terms statutory interpretation case examples. It is a broad approach which allows the law to cover more situations than applying words literally. Remote work advice from the largest allremote company.
Cliffe dekker hofmeyr purposive interpretation of tax. First, i examine some aspects of the purposive approach to interpretation in the supreme court, with an emphasis on the courts approach to taxation cases. Interpretation must be as near possible to the intention or purpose of framer s as the law would permit. Now, i will explain the difference between mischief rule and purposive rule. Courts were sharply divided on the application of statute, the race act.
The advantage and disadvantages of the purposive approach 1. There is a severe lack of rational method in interpretation in this area, since the courts often either do not employ the purposive approach at all, or they do so inadequately. The literal rule would be of little use in the european courts since there are several languages in operation and translation is not an exact science. If there is an ambiguity or an absurdity with this. Some scholars may argue that the literal rule and golden rule have been cast aside. Statutory interpretation is the process of reading and applying statutory laws, and judges trying to. Pdf a case study in the superiority of the purposive. A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree. Canlii connects the purposive approach to interpreting. The purposive approach is an approach to statutory and constitutional interpretation under which common law courts interpret an enactment within the context of the laws purpose. Much of the law involves a dealing with words, either spoken or written, and if there were no guide as to how words in a statute ought to be interpreted, it would probably be impossible to have disputed settled in a fair or reasonable manner. Using the literai approach, dominant in the english legal system, judges look primarily at the. Flawed rules of statutory interpretation law teacher. Purposive interpretation is a derivation of mischief rule set in heydons case, and intended to replace the mischief rule, the plain meaning rule and the golden rule.
When using one of the rules of statutory interpretation the courts may rely on a presumption or secondary aids to assist them in making their decision. Statutory interpretation literal rule v purposive approach. However, more recent cases involving statutory interpretation suggest that the purposive approach merely had its origins in the mischief rule, and is much wider in its application, as seen in cooper brookes woollongong pty ltd v fc of t. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Purposive interpretation is used when the courts use. Purposive approach to the interpretation of sales tax. Rather than obsessing over the meaning of each and every phrase, breyer looked at congresss goals in passing the act.
Purposive approach the purposive approach is a modern version of the mischief rule. Statutory interpretation approaches cases law flashcards. The purposive approach requires courts to consider the intentions of the parliament. The purposive approach sometimes referred to as purposive construction, purposive interpretation, or the modern principle in construction is an approach to statutory and constitutional interpretation under which common law courts interpret an enactment that is, a statute, a part of a statute, or a clause of a constitution in light of the. Second, each of the cases illustrates a different aspect of that approach.
Section 17a of the interpretation acts states that in the interpretation of a provision of an act, a construction that would promote the purpose or object underlying the act shall be preferred to a construction that would not promote that purpose or object. Understand what the purposive approach is and list some case law. In the courts view, a statute is the embodiment of parliamentary intent. This rule allows a judge to add or ignore words in an act to help them give a. However the reality is not simple, the flawed rules of statutory interpretation such as the literal rule and golden rule have not been cast aside, as judges. Purposive interpretation is what we do now in constitutional, statutory. Statutory interpretation is the process of determining whether a statute applies to a particular circumstances and if yes, what are the consequences.
Although judges frequently refer to the concept of purposive statutory construction, this approach should be used carefully and in any case will often produce the same result as literal interpretation. The purposive approach sometimes referred to as purposivism, purposive construction, purposive interpretation, or the modern principle in construction is an approach to statutory and constitutional interpretation under which common law courts interpret an enactment i. Start studying statutory interpretation approaches cases. Maunsell v olins 1975 ac 373 house of lords the house of lords had to determine whether a farm cottage attached to farmhouse constituted premises for the purposes of the rent act. The purposive approach to statutory interpretation. Interpreting the constitution is different from interpreting statutes. Second, as they use the purposive approach for eu law they are becoming accustomed to using it and are more likely to use it to interpret domestic law. Rather than attempt to interpret statutory language in a vacuum as justice scalia does,28 justice breyer. It therefore used the purposive approach and stated that miss pickstone was entitled to claim on the basis of work of equal value even though there was a male employee doing the same work as her.
Critically analyse the development of statutory interpretation. Purposive approach and extrinsic material in statutory. The literal and purposive approach to interpretation in respect to. The local arrival of the purposive approach to statutory interpretation to some extent coincided with the advent of the constitutional era in the midnineties. Demonstrate understanding of case law in relation to the purposive approach. These rules each take different approaches to interpretation of a statute. To understand the meaning of words in a statute, courts have to understand the statutes intent. Defined and set out the purposive approach of statutory interpretation. In contrast, justice breyer employed a purposive or purposes and objectives approach to statutory interpretation. While a greater number of cases may have revealed further depth to. This article uses the supreme court s 2011 decision in bruesewitz v. The purposive approach sometimes referred to as purposive construction, purposive interpretation, or the modern principle in construction is an approach to statutory and constitutional interpretation under which common law courts interpret an enactment that is, a statute, a part of a statute, or a clause of a constitution in light of the purpose for which it was enacted. The outcome of the purposive approach is difficult to anticipate and it may cause confusion if a judge changes the meaning of a statute. The purposive rule has become more widely used by the judges in light of the united kingdoms accession into the european union purposive approach of interpretation is the dominant approach of interpreting statutes in the european court of justice.
Lord simon set out the two tier test to be taken under the purposive approach. This paper considers the purposive approach and extrinsic material in statutory interpretation. An advantage of the purposive approach is that it leads to justice in individual cases. Environmental education resources to commemorate earth days 50th anniversary. Statutory interpretations is the process by which judges interpret acts of parliament. It is certainly more flexible than either the literal rule or the golden rule which tend to concentrate upon the meaning of individual words or phrases. The literal and purposive approach to interpretation in. Start studying statutory interpretation case examples. Development of purposive approach both professor burrows and justice mcgrath emphasised the increasing importance of the purposive approach to statutory interpretation professor john burrows the changing approach to the interpretation of statutes roles and perspectives in the law, 561, and john j mcgrath reading legislation and ivor. Formerly the dominant approach to statutory interpretation was the literal rule, with its gloss known as the golden rule, supplemented by the mischief rule, where the courts take into account the purpose of. Define the mischief rule and make reference to case law.
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