F. A. R. Bennion
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199564101
- eISBN:
- 9780191705465
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199564101.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Constitutional and Administrative Law
This book is a distillation of a larger work Bennion on Statutory Interpretation. It consists of an introduction and eighteen chapters each summarized at the end. The common law system presented here ...
More
This book is a distillation of a larger work Bennion on Statutory Interpretation. It consists of an introduction and eighteen chapters each summarized at the end. The common law system presented here is called the Global method both because it is worldwide and because it requires the interpreter to take every relevant consideration into account, including (under the doctrine of precedent) previous court decisions. The book starts by explaining what is meant by ‘common law legislation’. It then says that construing common law legislation has often been found difficult as an analytical concept, giving as the main reason deficiencies in legal education. One deficiency, still continuing, is to teach (mistakenly) that the interpretative criteria solely consist of the literal rule, the mischief rule, and the golden rule. The book aims to redress the deficiencies by presenting the issues briefly but correctly. There are a great many interpretative criteria, and where these conflict in a particular case there must be a judicial process of weighing and balancing. The criteria consist of four types: rules laid down by statute or common law, presumptions arising from the nature of legislation, principles of legal policy, and literary canons applying to all types of language. The book has a final chapter on techniques of ‘law handling’ or ‘law management’, which are central to any lawyer's or law student's functioning.Less
This book is a distillation of a larger work Bennion on Statutory Interpretation. It consists of an introduction and eighteen chapters each summarized at the end. The common law system presented here is called the Global method both because it is worldwide and because it requires the interpreter to take every relevant consideration into account, including (under the doctrine of precedent) previous court decisions. The book starts by explaining what is meant by ‘common law legislation’. It then says that construing common law legislation has often been found difficult as an analytical concept, giving as the main reason deficiencies in legal education. One deficiency, still continuing, is to teach (mistakenly) that the interpretative criteria solely consist of the literal rule, the mischief rule, and the golden rule. The book aims to redress the deficiencies by presenting the issues briefly but correctly. There are a great many interpretative criteria, and where these conflict in a particular case there must be a judicial process of weighing and balancing. The criteria consist of four types: rules laid down by statute or common law, presumptions arising from the nature of legislation, principles of legal policy, and literary canons applying to all types of language. The book has a final chapter on techniques of ‘law handling’ or ‘law management’, which are central to any lawyer's or law student's functioning.
F. A. R. Bennion
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199564101
- eISBN:
- 9780191705465
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199564101.003.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Constitutional and Administrative Law
This introductory chapter starts by explaining what is meant by ‘common law legislation’ in the title of the book. It then says that construing common law legislation has often been found to be ...
More
This introductory chapter starts by explaining what is meant by ‘common law legislation’ in the title of the book. It then says that construing common law legislation has often been found to be difficult as an analytical concept, giving as the main reason deficiencies in legal education. One deficiency, still continuing, is to teach (mistakenly) that the interpretative criteria solely consist of the literal rule, the mischief rule, and the golden rule. This book aims to redress the deficiencies by presenting the issues briefly but correctly. There are a great many interpretative criteria, and where these conflict in a particular case there must be a judicial process of weighing and balancing. The common law system of statutory interpretation presented here may be called the Global method both because it is worldwide and because it requires the interpreter to take every relevant consideration into account, including (under the doctrine of precedent) previous court decisions.Less
This introductory chapter starts by explaining what is meant by ‘common law legislation’ in the title of the book. It then says that construing common law legislation has often been found to be difficult as an analytical concept, giving as the main reason deficiencies in legal education. One deficiency, still continuing, is to teach (mistakenly) that the interpretative criteria solely consist of the literal rule, the mischief rule, and the golden rule. This book aims to redress the deficiencies by presenting the issues briefly but correctly. There are a great many interpretative criteria, and where these conflict in a particular case there must be a judicial process of weighing and balancing. The common law system of statutory interpretation presented here may be called the Global method both because it is worldwide and because it requires the interpreter to take every relevant consideration into account, including (under the doctrine of precedent) previous court decisions.
Christopher Hutton
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748633500
- eISBN:
- 9780748671489
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748633500.003.0005
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Applied Linguistics and Pedagogy
This chapter looks at how lawyers and legal theorists have understood and sought to resolve problems in legal interpretation. Legal rules concerning interpretation are shown to be an assorted mixture ...
More
This chapter looks at how lawyers and legal theorists have understood and sought to resolve problems in legal interpretation. Legal rules concerning interpretation are shown to be an assorted mixture of conventions, maxims, principles and authorities, and this gives rise to a set of complex dilemmas. These dilemmas are revealed in relation to plain language, the use of definitions, the tension between a need for consistency and the requirement that law evolve in step with social change. Law students for example learn the ‘literal’, ‘golden’ and ‘mischief’ rules; courts consider equity as part of an understanding of legal morality but also flexibility, and consider policy questions in relation to legal decision making. Hard cases reveal the difficulty of asserting and sustaining a consistent approach to legal interpretation. Modern secular law is subject to challenge and contestation, since it can no longer draw overtly on its roots in pre-modern feudal and theological models of authority and sovereignty.Less
This chapter looks at how lawyers and legal theorists have understood and sought to resolve problems in legal interpretation. Legal rules concerning interpretation are shown to be an assorted mixture of conventions, maxims, principles and authorities, and this gives rise to a set of complex dilemmas. These dilemmas are revealed in relation to plain language, the use of definitions, the tension between a need for consistency and the requirement that law evolve in step with social change. Law students for example learn the ‘literal’, ‘golden’ and ‘mischief’ rules; courts consider equity as part of an understanding of legal morality but also flexibility, and consider policy questions in relation to legal decision making. Hard cases reveal the difficulty of asserting and sustaining a consistent approach to legal interpretation. Modern secular law is subject to challenge and contestation, since it can no longer draw overtly on its roots in pre-modern feudal and theological models of authority and sovereignty.
