Statutory Interpretation

The Interpretation Act 1978 defines many terms which are used commonly, and it supplies that its definitions are to be used in interpreting any Act that contains the words defined (unless a subsequent Act defines them differently). The Act outlines certain standard definitions of common provisions, for example, “he” includes “she” and the singular includes plural. This format enables statutes to be drafted more briefly. Judges have developed general methods of statutory interpretation. In the court system, judges are often faced with the overwhelming task of determining the exact meaning of a particular legislation and whether a particular activity or person’s conduct fits the scope of that legislation. A particular “interpretation” must then be applied to the legislation. With interpretation comes two major problems, ambiguity which arises through an error during the drafting process whereby ...