PO210 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Parliamentary Sovereignty, Small Claims Court, Alternative Dispute Resolution
Document Summary
Civil law governs the interactions between individuals, but can also include governments and other. If case has dissenting decision, if the judges disagreed, if case is old or in quickly changing area of law = less consideration. Traditional rules of statutory interpretation: literal rule (plain or ordinary meaning) If words of legislation are clear, they must be given their ordinary meaning and grammatical punctuation rules apply: the statue alone is the only thing to be considered, and no other context is permitted. Judges must apply ordinary meaning: absurdity rule (golden rule, adds to the literal rule in that the normal meaning of the legislation should be used unless this reading would result in absurdity. If absurd or unacceptable results come from the legislation, then judge can assume it was not intended and is allowed to move from literal meaning only as much as necessary to remove the conflict. Judge a may think absurd, judge b may not: ex.
