Law 2101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Obiter Dictum, Precedent, Ratio Decidendi

• School: Western University
• Department: Law
• Course: Law 2101
• Professor: Mysty Sybil Clapton

Document Summary

Ontario employment standards act stipulates the minimum wage, which excluded farmers who were employed in the production of vegetables. The law, through various mechanisms, sets down various rules. But those rules or their application to a future matter, are not always clear. I. e. what does a term in a statute mean. I. e. what relevance does a prior court decision have to a future dispute. There are rules as to how those rules should be interpreted. Statutes are often couched in general language. Courts must decide if facts of particular case fit within general language. No set formula for determining legislative meaning. (cid:28645)ul(cid:28664)s o(cid:28665) (cid:28668)nt(cid:28664)rpr(cid:28664)t(cid:28660)t(cid:28668)on (cid:28660)r(cid:28664) (cid:28661)(cid:28664)tt(cid:28664)r un(cid:28663)(cid:28664)rstoo(cid:28663) (cid:28660)s (cid:28666)u(cid:28668)(cid:28663)(cid:28664)l(cid:28668)n(cid:28664)s. Modern rule of interpretation: (cid:28646)t(cid:28660)tutory (cid:28668)nt(cid:28664)rpr(cid:28664)t(cid:28660)t(cid:28668)on (cid:28668)s (cid:28661)(cid:28664)st (cid:28663)(cid:28664)s(cid:28662)r(cid:28668)(cid:28661)(cid:28664)(cid:28663) (cid:28660)s (cid:28660) process that requires the exercise of judgement in balancing the ordinary meaning of words, the context of the entire statute and the purpose o(cid:28665) t(cid:28667)(cid:28664) st(cid:28660)tut(cid:28664). Weight given to each of these elements is not settles.