Parliamentary Sovereignty And Statutory Interpretation Term paper
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Parliament can make or unmake any law whatever and nobody can challenge or set aside the will of Parliament. This quote is a very short but to the point explanation for Parliamentary Sovereignty. This means that Parliament is answerable to no one and can make new laws, abolish old ones and adapt existing ones as they go along. However the sovereignty of Parliament is questionable since we joined the European Union because we would have to adhere to any ruling laid down by European law even if it should go against the will of Parliament.
The House of Commons and The House of Lords make up two thirds of Parliament. There is a third power, The Judiciary, which is a totally separate body that is in place to implement and enforce the legislature that Parliament creates. This has to be a completely stand-alone establishment with no ties or connection to Parliament. Without this Separation of Powers it is possible that the public may not get a fair and impartial trial because Parliament could have to much influence over the judges. This in turn could give the Government to much power (they are often the ones, which propose a new law to Parliament) and we may become a tyrannical society. The Courts must follow the laws of Parliament and cannot ever challenge them if they think they are ineffective or ridiculous. The Separation of Powers is an essential part of our unwritten constitution. To strengthen the separate role of the Courts, Judges are very well paid and their salaries are not subject to Parliamentary review which helps to protect them from politically influenced pressure. They also have excellent job security so that they are able to pass judgement on everyone who breaks the law including those in power, without fear of losing their jobs.
There are three different approaches to statutory interpretation the Literal Rule, the Golden Rule and the Mischief Rule. Here are some examples of each;
The Literal Rule
Lord Esher, in 1892, said If the words of an Act are clear you must follow them, even though they lead to a manifest absurdity. This means that the Courts must follow the laws passed by Parliament, to the letter even if the interpretation were to bring about a ridiculous conviction or acquittal. The case of Fisher V Bell is a good example of the literal approach. A shopkeeper had a flickknife on display in his shop window, this was brought to the attention of he Police and the man was arrested. He was charged with offering for sale a flickknife contrary to the Offensive Weapons Act 1959. He was found not guilty of the offence although the weapon was clearly for sale. According to the law of contract the display of an article with a price on it is merely an invitation to buy it is not an offer of sale. By following the Literal Rule the courts carried out the written wishes but not the intended will of Parliament.
The Golden Rule
It is a very useful rule in the construction of a statute to adhere to the ordinary meaning of the words used, and to the grammatical construction, unless that is at variance with the intention of the legislature to be collected from the statute itself, or leads to any manifest absurdity or repugnance, in which case the language may be varied or modified so as to avoid such inconvenience but no further. B Parke 1836. This means that if the Judge thinks that the actual words of the Act are going to lead to an absurd conviction or acquittal that would not follow the intentions of the Act, then he may look for another possible meaning. The case of R V Allen demonstrates how the Golden Rule can be applied. Bigamy is defined in the Act as, Whosoever being married shall marry another person during the life of the former husband or wife shall be guilty of bigamy . Under English law it is illegal for a married person to marry again therefore bigamy in the literal sense of the word would be impossible. So the word marry was taken...
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