Essay
BTEC LAW UNIT 2 - M3 (ACHIEVED)
- Course
- Institution
GOOD FOR STUDENTS CHEAP
[Show more]
Seller
Follow
juneeexo416
Reviews received
Content preview
THE IMPORTANCE OF STATUTORY INTERPRETATIONIn addition to the information I have provided in P5, I have been asked to create a report
explaining the importance of using statutory interpretation.
Sometimes, judges need to interpret particular statutes because those certain acts might not be
completely clear and may consist of absurdity and obscurity. Also, judges might find it hard to
come up to a decision when there is more than one meaning existent of a specific word included
in an Act. Thus suggesting that, if statutory interpretation wouldn’t exist then is probable that
judges would struggle when they will have to decide their judgements in a case. Also,
interpreting statues is quite necessary if there is bad drafting of a statute and if there are
changes in language, broad terms or unforeseeable developments.
Even though the legislators always try to write in plain English and good grammar, the words
can have loads of meanings therefore it could result in ambiguity or confusing interpretations.
According to issues when interpreting statutes, an example case would be R v Bentham (2003).
Here, a purposive approach had to be applied when s17 of The Firearms Act 1968 had to be
interpreted. The defendant has been accused under the s17 of Firearms Act 2005 which states
that it is an offence to be in possession of an imitation firearm. In our example case, the
defendant went to A’s house to rob him making him believe that he owed the defendant
money. However, A was still lying in bed while D was pointing two fingers at him through his
coat looking as he was holding a gun and asked A for ‘every penny in the house’. Therefore, A
seemed to believe that D was holding an actual gun. Initially, s17 of the Act believed to be in the
interests of the victim and its purpose was to protect from threat of what was thought to be a
weapon. As a result, the defendant was found guilty but due to an appeal in 2005, he was finally
found not guilty as it was stated that someone could not be in possession of his own limbs.
Moreover, there are some reasons that of why judges need to interpret statutes. They might
have to do that because of broad terms, drafting errors or new developments on that statute
and I will be discussing these in more detail.
Firstly, broad terms might be created in order to cover a specific amount of possibilities and
their meaning can be ambiguous. An example of this is a phrase in the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991
where it states ‘any dog of the type as the pit bull terrier’. This has therefore led to a lot of
issues about what ‘type’ means and if it means ‘breed’ or something else.
Secondly, drafting errors occur when a mistake has been made by the Parliamentary draftsman who
drafted that certain bill but that mistake was not acknowledged while going through its passage in
Parliament. However, this incident would possibly occur when a Bill went through multiple changes.
Lastly, new developments means that there may be new changes with an old Act of Parliament thus
showing that the Act might not be appropriate to use in current circumstances. An example of this
situation was shown in the case Royal College of Nursing v DHSS. In that case, the Abortion Act 1967
stated that pregnancy should be terminated by a registered medical practitioner’. This outlines the
fact that only a doctor could perform such a procedure at the time when the Act was enforced. The
interpretation rule that has been applied in this case was the mischief rule – the Act was aimed at
doing away with back street abortions where no medical care was available so therefore the action
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller juneeexo416. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $3.86. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
67474 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now