LAWS104 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Macquarie Dictionary, Nsw Law Reports, Primary And Secondary Legislation
LAWS 104 - LEGAL READING, WRITING & READING
Wk. 9 – Statutory Interpretation Part II
Aids to Statutory Construction
There are various aids to statutory interpretation, including:
The intrinsic guides to interpretation offered by the text of the
legislation under consideration;
The principles and presumptions employed by courts;
The common law and statutory regimes governing the use of extrinsic
materials as potential guides to interpretation
The Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (Cth), Interpretation of Legislation
Act 1984 (Vic) and Interpretation Act 1987 (NSW) as well as other State
or Territory Interpretation Acts;
In Victoria, the requirements of the Charter of Human Rights and
Responsibilities Act (2006) (Vic) and other Acts of general application
such as the Magistrates Court Act and the Sentencing Act;
Common law interpretative principles, maxims and presumptions;
Precedents in comparable cases
Other contextual factors authorised by the law.
Summary: Interpretation of Legislation in Context
Context is conceptualized in three ways:
1. Narrowly > the context of the provision itself
2. The context of the Act as a whole
3. Broadly > the context of the Act in its widest sense, including the broad
statutory scheme, the legislative history of the Act and the purpose for
which the Act was enacted.
The modern approach to context is to read the act in its immediate
context as well as its wider context
Immediate context includes all intrinsic materials (parts of the statute
and the text itself) while the wider context includes extrinsic materials
(Law Reform Commission Reports, Explanatory memoranda, second
reading speeches, parliamentary debates and committee reports,
international treaties and agreements, the constitution etc).
Some of the implications of the principle that words should be
interpreted in context include:
Words should be interpreted with reference to accompanying
words; with reference to other parts of the Act in which they appear;
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and with reference to the interpretation legislation of the relevant
jurisdiction
Dictionaries may be consulted
Consistent use of words is assumed; all words assumed to carry
meaning; and words should be interpreted according to their current
meaning
The express mention of something may draw attention to the
absence of something else
Legislative provisions may be interpreted with reference to
other legislation; with reference to the audience to which they are
directed; and with reference to prior or other existing law.
Dictionaries
Reference may be made to a dictionary if the word is not defined in the
definition or interpretation section of the legislation.
See State Chamber of Commerce and Industry v Commonwealth
(1987) 163 CLR 329, 348, where five justice of the High Court referred to
the Macquarie Dictionary for the meaning of ‘fringe benefit’.
Macquarie Dictionary
The Oxford English Dictionary
The Australian Oxford English Dictionary
In King-Ansell v Police [1979] 2 NZLR 531, 541 Richardson J
referred to 12 dictionaries to interpret the word ‘ethnic’ in s 25(1) of the
Race Relation Act 1971 (NZ).
All words assumed to carry meaning
Every word in a statute is intended to mean something.
In Project Blue Sky Inc v Australian Broadcasting Authority (1998)
194 CLR 355, 382 it was noted that
‘a court construing a statutory provision must strive to give
meaning to every word of the provision…. no clause, sentence, or
word shall prove superfluous, void or insignificant, if by any other
construction they may all be made useful and pertinent.’
Words interpreted in accordance with current meaning
The meaning of words often change with time.
Nice: This word used to mean “silly, foolish, simple.” Far from
the compliment it is today!
Silly. Meanwhile, silly went in the opposite direction: in its
earliest uses, it referred to things worthy or blessed; from there it
came to refer to the weak and vulnerable, and more recently to those
who are foolish.
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Document Summary
Laws 104 - legal reading, writing & reading. There are various aids to statutory interpretation, including: The intrinsic guides to interpretation offered by the text of the legislation under consideration; The principles and presumptions employed by courts; The common law and statutory regimes governing the use of extrinsic materials as potential guides to interpretation. The acts interpretation act 1901 (cth), interpretation of legislation. Act 1984 (vic) and interpretation act 1987 (nsw) as well as other state or territory interpretation acts; In victoria, the requirements of the charter of human rights and. Responsibilities act (2006) (vic) and other acts of general application such as the magistrates court act and the sentencing act; Common law interpretative principles, maxims and presumptions; Other contextual factors authorised by the law. The modern approach to context is to read the act in its immediate context as well as its wider context. Some of the implications of the principle that words should be interpreted in context include:
