LAWS314StatutoryInterpretationREQUIREDREADING

LAWS314:StatutoryInterpretationTextbook:StatutoryInterpretationbyMichelleSanson2nded

Week1:IntroductiontoStatutoryInterpretationandCreationofLegislationChapter1:IntroductiontoStatutoryInterpretation……………………………….……….1Chapter2:CreationofLegislation……………………………………………………………………1

Week2:InterpretationLegislationChapter3:InterpretationLegislation………………………………………………………………3

Week3:ContextandPurposeChapter4:ContextandPurpose…………….……………….………………………………………8

Week4:IntentionandInterpretiveTechniquesChapter5:IntentionandInterpretiveTechniques……….……………….………….…….11

Week5:IntrinsicMaterialsChapter6:IntrinsicMaterials–StatuteComponents…………….……………………….13Chapter7:IntrinsicMaterials–TheText…………………………………………………………15

Week6:ExtrinsicMaterialsChapter8:ExtrinsicMaterials…………….…………………………………………………………..19

Week7:TraditionalCommonLawApproachesChapter9:TraditionalCommonLawApproaches………………….………………………..23

Week8:StatutoryPresumptionsChapter10:StatutoryPresumptions….……………………….……………………….………….26

Week9:FundamentalandHumanRightsChapter11:FundamentalandHumanRights…………………………………………………..30

Week10:InternationalLawinStatutoryInterpretationChapter12:InternationalLawinStatutoryInterpretation………….……………………34

Week11:InterpretingSpecificInstrumentsChapter13:InterpretingSpecificInstruments…………….……………………………………37

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LAWS314:StatutoryInterpretationStatutoryInterpretationbyMichelleSanson2ndedition

Week1:IntroductiontoStatutoryInterpretationandCreationofLegislation

Chapter1:IntroductiontoStatutoryInterpretation

Legislation• Legislationisthepredominantsourceoflawappliedbyjudgesinthecommonlawwords.• Mostlawissetdowninlegislationandcasesinterpretingtheirprovisions,whichiswhylawyersneed

advancedstatutoryinterpretationskills.• Throughlegislation,Parliamentcommunicateswhatitexpectsindividualsandcorporationtodoand

refrainformdoing.Thecourt’sroleininterpretation• Primaryresponsibilityofacourtininterpretationisresolvingadisputeoverthemeaningofwords.• Roleofthecourtsislimitedbytheseparationofpowers–canonlyruleonlegislationasitstands.• Acourtcannotimprove,rewriteordevelopastatute.• Courtmustinterpretstatuteinlightofitscontextandpurpose.• Generallytreatstatutesasthesuperiorsourceoflaw(asopposedtothecommonlaw).• Modernapproachtointerpretationisthepurposiveapproach.Interpretationvconstruction• Oftenusedinterchangeably.• Besttouse‘interpretation’toworkoutthemeaningofasinglewordorphraseand‘construction’to

construethemeaningofawholeprovision.Historyofstatutoryinterpretation• 14thcentury–thenotionofparliamentarysovereigntygivingstatutelawsuperiorityovercommonlaw

cameaboutandcourt’srealisedstatuteswerebindingandthereneededtobeguidelinesforinterpretingthem.

• NewSouthWalesAct1823(Imp)establishedtheNSWSC.• ThefirstChiefjusticehadtoapplycolonialpracticesandcustoms,withoutthebenefitofcolonial

legislation,inlightofEnglishstatutesandcommonlaw.• AustralianConstitutionsAct(No1)1842(Imp):establishedarepresentativelegislatureinAustralia.• ColonialLawsValidityAct1865(Imp):repugnancydoctrine–anylawsinconsistentwithEnglishlaw

werestruckdown.• Repugnancydoctrineappliedupuntil1942atCommonwealthleveland1986atStatelevel.• Upuntilthe1980’sthecourtsfocusedonreplicatingwhatcouldbeexpectedfromanEnglishcourt.• Interpretationlegislationsetuppathforacoherentbodyoflawrelatingtostatutoryinterpretation.

Chapter2:CreationofLegislation

Legislativepower• Constitutionsarethefontofpowerforthelegislature,executiveandjudicature.• Federallegislativepowersarelimitedtotheheadofpowerins51oftheConstitution.Draftingstyles• 2approachestodrafting:• Draftingageneralprovisionandleavingthecourtstodeterminetheapplicationofastatuteandacase

bycasebasisembodyingtheprocessesofthecommonlaw;

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• Draftingadetailedprovisionsoastoprovideaclearandcomprehensivelawthatwillminimisethescopeforjudicialdiscretionandinterpretation.

PlainEnglishdrafting• Inasocietywhereignoranceofthelawisnoexcuseandwherelegaladvicecostsmoneytohave

legislationthatisincomprehensibleexcepttothoselegallytrained.• PlainEnglishdraftinghasdevelopedasaresultoftheviewthatlegislationshouldbecomprehensibleto

theaverageperson.• PlainEnglishdraftingfavoursasimpleandstraightforwardstyle,usinglanguagethatisdirectand

familiar,gettingridofunnecessarywordsandavoidinglongandcomplicatedsentences.• Inpractice,itisextremelydifficulttodraftlegislationinplainEnglish.Draftingconventions• Draftlegislationtakesastandardform.• Actsuniformlycommencewithalongtitleandthewords‘theParliamentenacts’,followedby

substantiveclauses.• Theclausesmaybegroupedusingheadingssuchas‘Chapter’or‘Part’.• Attheendofsubstantiveclausestheremaybeschedules.• Draftlegislationmustbeintheexactforminwhichitwillbepassed.• Draftersuseavarietyofexpressionstorepresenttherelationshiptowardsdifferententities,peopleor

things,i.e,‘withrespect’,‘inrelationto’,‘bywayof’etc.Parliamentaryprocedures• BillsmaybeinitiatedintheHouseofRepresentativesortheSenate.• Mostbillsaregovernmentbills,asopposedtoprivatememberbills,andareintroducedbytheMinister

responsiblefortheportfoliocoveringthatsubjectmatter.• BillisaccompaniedbyanexplanatorymemorandumsignedbytheMinister,whichexplainsthe

proposedlawandsummarisesitscontents.• Billsmustbeaccompaniedbya‘statementofcompatibility’thatassessesthelegislation’scomplianceor

interferencewithkeyhumanrightsinstruments.• Variousstagesinvolvedinthepassageofabill:initiation,firstreading,secondreading,referral(to

committeeetc),adoption,thirdreading,transmissiontootherhouseforconcurrence,billmaybereturnedtohouseinwhichitoriginatedasisorwithamendments,presentedbytheAttorney-GeneralforassentbytheGovernor-General.

• Atthetimeofassent,thebillbecomesanActofParliament.

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Week2:InterpretationLegislation

Chapter3:InterpretationLegislation

Introduction• Inaccordancewiththedoctrineofparliamentarysovereignty,anyrulessetdownbyParliamentprevail

overanyconflictingcommonlawrulesofStatutoryInterpretation.• Relevantlegislation:• ActsInterpretationAct1901(Cth);• InterpretationofLegislationAct1984(Vic).

• Actsapplyequallytoprimaryanddelegatedlegislation(Vics4&Cths2).• InterpretationActshavetwomainfunctions:• Theycontaingenericprovisionsthatapplytoalllegislationunlessthelegislationspecifiesotherwise;• Theycontaininstructionstothecourtstoconsiderthepurposeofthelegislationand,whererelevant,

extrinsicmaterials.• CthActs2(2):TheActandanyofitsprovisionsapplyunlessacontraryintentionappearsinaspecific

Act.

Gender• Gender-neutrallanguage–legislationisaddressedequallytopeopleofdifferentgenders.• InterpretationActsprovidethatwherelegislationuses‘he’includes‘she’andviceversa.• CthActs23(a)(Vics37(a)):‘wordsimportingagenderincludeeveryothergender’.

Age• S37ACthAct:‘thetimeatwhichapersonattainsaparticularageexpressedinyearsisthe

commencementoftherelevantanniversaryofthedateofbirthofthatperson’(i.eturn18at12amonthe18thanniversaryoftheirbirth).

Number• S23(b)CthAct(Vics37(c)(d)):‘wordsinthesingularnumberincludethepluralandwordsintheplural

numberincludethesingular’.• Example:ifaprovisionsaysitisanoffencetodischargea/onebombinasupermarket,itwouldalso

coverdischargingmorethanonebomb.

Distance• WhereanActspecifiedthatsomethingmustbe,forexample,500kilometresfromacertainplace,this

distanceismeasuredinasinglestraightline,andnotaccordingtodrivingonroadswhichmaybendetc.• S35CthAct(Vics43):InthemeasurementofanydistanceforthepurposesofanyAct,thatdistance

shall,unlessthecontraryintentionappears,bemeasuredinastraightlineonahorizontalplane.

Time• Timereferstothestandardoflegaltimeintheplacewherethelegislationapplies.• S37CthAct:‘anyreferencetotimeoccurs,suchtimeshall,unlessitisotherwisespecificallystated,be

deemedineachStateorpartoftheCthtomeanthelegaltimeinthatStateorpartoftheCth’.• S22(1)(a)(Vics44):Adaymeansa24hourperiodcommencingamidnight;monthmeansacalendar

month.• IfanActsayssomething‘applies’atacertaindate,thismeansitstartsat12.00.01onthatdate.• Ifsomething‘appliesfrom’acertaindate,thatdateisexcluded.• S36(1)CthAct(Vics44):

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Figure1fromStatutoryInterpretationbySansonpg38

Meaningof‘may’and‘shall’• S33(2a)CthAct&S45(1)VicAct:‘May’confersadiscretion.• S45(2)VicAct:‘Shall’ismandatory.• ProjectBlueSkyIncvAustralianBroadcastingAuthority(1998)194CLR355,[93]:Whendeterminingthe

validityofanactdoneinbreachofastatutoryprovision.‘Abettertestfordeterminingtheissueofvalidityistoaskwhetheritwasapurposeofthelegislationthatanactdoneinbreachoftheprovisionshouldbeinvalid’.

• If‘may’isusedthenitisuptothepowerholderastowhethertoexercisethatpowerornot–thisisnotanabsoluterule,onlyageneralrule.

• Partofthecontextualanalysisgoestoconsiderationoftheconsequenceofapowernotbeingcarriedout,intermsofboththeindividualandthebroaderpublic.

• Morelikelythatadutytoexerciseadiscretionarypowerwillbefoundifthefailuretodosowouldbeunfairorunjustfortheindividual,andofsomepublicdetriment.

• BradleyvCommonwealth(1973)128CLR557:Courthadtodecidewhetherastatutorypowertoprovidepostalandtelephonicfacilitiesconferredadutytoprovidethoseservices.MajoritydeclinedtoaccepttheCth’sargumentthattheprovisionswerepermissiveanddirectory,notobligatorandmandatory,soifsomeone’smailwasnottransmittedordelivered,therewasnorighttoanyredress.

• Whereadiscretionarypowerisgivenbyastatute,itcanbetakenthatthelegislatureintendedthatitbeexercisedreasonably.

• MinisterforImmigrationandCitizenshipvLi(2013)249CLR332:Liwasrefusedaskilledstudentresidentialvisa,andappliedtotheMigrationReviewTribunal(MRT)forareviewofthisdecision.TheMRTdeclinedLi’srequestthattheproceedingsbeadjournedtoallowfortimefortheskillsassessmentbodytoreviewitsownreport,whichcontainedfundamentalerrors.ThreeFederalCourts,includingtheHCA,agreedthatthedecisionwasunreasonable.Whereadiscretionarypowerisconferredbyastatute,itispresumedthatthelegislatureintendedthatdiscretionbeexercisedreasonable,andanyuseofthediscretionthatissounreasonablethatnoreasonabledecision-makercouldhavedonesoisinvalid.

• S25CCthAct:‘WhereanActprescribesaform,then,unlessthecontraryintentionappears,strictcompliancewiththeformisnotrequiredandsubstantialcomplianceissufficient’.

• ProjectBlueSkyIncvAustralianBroadcastingAuthority(1998)194CLR355:ABA,inimplementingastandardthattelevisionmusthaveacertainproportionoflocalAustraliancontent,failedtocomplywithobligationsunderatradeprotocolthatrequiredNZproducerstobetreatednolessfavourablythanAustralianproducers.TheHCAagreedthatthestandardwasinbreachoftheprotocol,butnotinvalid: