Dont forget!

Commencement of Legislation: When date in set out in Act, when date to be fixed and when no provision for commencement at all Amendment and repeal of legislation: Express or implied? generalia specialbus non derogant (which can be rebutted), what happens when the repealed Act has repealed an earlier Act? and accrued rights and liabilities. Delegated Legislation: commencement, general principles of statutory interpretation and ultra vires

Your Statutory Interpretation Toolbox

Introduction to Legal Reasoning 2012 Stream 2

Courts use approaches to give meaning to words and phrases in legislation. There is no checklist for the approache(s) that courts will use in any given situation. The context will often determine the approach. You should view the following set of approaches as a toolbox containing a range of varied tools which you may use according to what is most needed in the circumstances. A court may consider one or more of the following approaches in interpreting an Act:

1. Identify an ambiguity in the legislation 2. PRIMARY(INTRINSIC) GUIDES TO MEANING What is the natural meaning of the term? (can use a dictionary) Looking at the terms of the legislation or provision, and the purposive clause, or preamble. a) Does the relevant interpretation Act help to define the term?

Becky Batagol, Monash University 2012

b) Are there related Acts with similar terms? 3. SECONDARY GUIDES TO MEANING Other extrinsic evidence regarding the purpose may be admitted by the court. Use the relevant interpretation Act to justify the use of extrinsic materials to determine purpose. Understand what extrinsic materials are and are not admissible as evidence of statutory purpose Victorian statutory provisions must be interpreted in a way that is compatible with human rights: Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (Vic), Section 32 1. Use international law and the judgments of domestic, foreign and international courts and tribunals relevant to a human right Common Law Approaches And Presumptions a) Common law syntactical tools i.Noscitur a sociis ii.Eiusdem generis iii.Expressio unius est exclusio alterius b) Common Law Presumptions i.Statutes do not operate retrospectively; (see also Vic Charter s 27) ii.Penal provisions are strictly construed iii.Parliament does not impede fundamental rights; iv.Property rights are not taken away without compensation Cases interpreting similar words in other Acts 1. Is it binding? 2. Or Persuasive? Dictionaries 1. Macquarie Dictionary 2. Oxford English Dictionary 3. Australian Oxford Dictionary