Flashcards
Statutory Interpretation
Cards in this deck (5)
- 1courts must apply legislation, not change or alter it in any way, Oireachtas job is to legislate the courts are tasked with deciding what the legislature meantWhat is its intention? “Legislature is taken to say what it means and mean what it says”
- 2Problems of interpretation language is indeterminate – can have multiple meanings; statutes use complex or archaic language; wording can be difficult to understand uncertainty re legislative intent or purpose of an Act literal application of statutory meaning is sometimes impossible, ambiguous or absurd…Literal Rule: Meaning of the text is taken literally
Inspector of Taxes v Kiernan
A pig farmer, taxed as a “dealer in cattle” under 1967 Act - increased his tax liability
“Cattle” not defined under 1967 Act
s.1 of the Towns Improvement (Ireland) Act 1854; ‘cattle’ included horse, mare, bull, cow, lamb, goat, etc.
older meaning of ‘cattle’ no longer common; ‘cattle’=‘bovine animals’ - 3HSE v Brookshore Ltd [2010] IEHC 165 – smoking area in lane adjoining bar, covered by retractable canvas awning. Section 47(7) of the Public Health (Tobacco) Act 2002 Smoking area indoors or outdoors?..... A roof is a Roof Intention of the legislature - smoking indoors is banned.Sleeping in a train station is Prohibited
intent: Discourage homelessness - 4Purposive Interpretation purpose of the statute to find legislature intentionTraditional Approaches
Golden Rule: When using the literalrule if there is an absurd result. An alternative/secondary meaning is chosen.
Michief Rule:
What was the rule before the act?
why was it changed?
What was the act legislated to prevent? - 5Aids to interp slide 3
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- 1st year Intoduction to law Flashcards on Statutory Interpretation, created by Amy Connolly on 21/06/2016.
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- Amy Connolly
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