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Aids to Statutory Interpretation - Coggle Diagram
Aids to Statutory Interpretation
Internal Aid (Intrinsic):
Judges can use certain items within the statute to help make the meaning of some words clearer.
A judge can consider the long title, the short title, and the preamble of the Act.
Older statutes usually have a preamble that sets out Parliament's purpose in enacting that statute.
Modern Statutes either do not have a preamble or contain a very brief one; for example, the Theft Act 1968 states that is is an Act to modernise the law of theft.
The long title may also explain briefly Parliament's intentions.
Headings
before a group of sections, and any
schedules
attached to the Act.
Often marginal notes explaining different sections, but these are not regarded as giving Parliament's intention as they have been inserted after the Parliamentary debates and are only helpful comments put in by the printer.
An unusual approach was taken in the Arbitration Act 1996, where a statement of the principles of the Act is set out in an interpretative section. This is a new development in statutory drafting and one that could both encourage and help the use of the purposive approach.
External Aid (Extrinsic)
These are items outside an Act which may help a judge to find the meaning of words in an Act.
Any relevant pre-legislative documents such as travaux préparatoires, Green Papers, White Papers, Law Commission reports or reports of law reform bodies.
previous Acts of Parliament on the same topic
dictionaries of the time the Act was passed such as used in Cheeseman v DDP (1990)
Academic books and publications.
In addition the following can be, and will be, considered by judges:
Hansard
An official report of what was said in Parliament when the Act was debated.
explanatory notes published in, or with, the Act
international treaties or Conventions
the interpretation Act 1978