Statutes/Acts of Parliament are laws that are made by the Parliament.
In the Ugandan Context, The Parliament is a law-making organ according to the authority of its powers as stipulated under Art. 79 of the Ugandan Constitution.
Statutes include Penal Code Act Chapter 120, Evidence Act Chapter 6, Judicature Act, Contracts Act 2010 e.t.c.
Why do courts carry out Statutory Interpretation?
- A statute may possess different words or terms that tend to turn out to be ambiguous, vague, strained, and extensive, or even have more than meaning.
- At times the drafters of these statutes may omit or make mistakes that later call for further examination and interpretation by courts.
- In some instances, words may have more than one meaning that later may cause questions on what meaning to consider.
All the above issues may cause grievances and questions on how a particular statute in question should be applied.
This will call for Courts and judges to decipher the statutes and apply them accordingly, thus the need for statutory interpretation.
Note: Canons of Statutory Interpretation are merely guidelines and not mandatory constraints that hold judges to using them. A judge is free to apply any given form of principle in Statutory Interpretation to resolve ambiguities in question.
There are three traditional rules of Statutory interpretation;
- The Literal/Natural/Plain/Ordinary Rule
- The Golden Rule
- The Mischief Rule
RULES OF STATUTORY INTERPRETATION
THE LITERAL RULE
It is sometimes called the grammatical rule. This rule considers the literal/plain/ordinary meaning of words as they are used in statutes.
This rule intends to follow the wording of statutes as drafted by the lawgiver, the Parliament.
It considers the meaning ordinary of words in the Statute rather than applying extrinsic meanings.
In the case of;
Fisher v Bell [1960] 3 All ER 731A
The shopkeeper was convicted for selling an article in his shop contrary to the Offensive Weapons Act 1959 that classified the weapon among dangerous weapons.
The court considered the phrase 'offer for sale in the literal environment interpreting the phrase as it is used in its ordinary meaning as far as Contract Law that is to means 'invitation to treat. Thus the defendant was not liable.
The court, in this case, applied the literal rule by perceiving the ordinary meanings of the words.
The House of Lords followed a similar principle in the case of Whiteley V Chapelle.
Also Read:
THE GOLDEN RULE
The Golden rule of statutory interpretation is applied by courts, where using the Literal rule leads to an absurd result or repugnancy.
A court may refrain from applying the Literal interpretation to avoid absurdity, inconsistency, or repugnancy.
The Golden rule takes on an extensive approach. The Judge is not held to the wording of the Statute but allowed to go beyond the language of the Statute to award a reasonable interpretation.
In Grey v Pearson (1857) 6 HL Cas 61, Lord Wensleydale said:
"...the grammatical and ordinary sense of the words is to be adhered to unless that would lead to some absurdity, or some repugnance or inconsistency with the rest of the instrument, in which case the grammatical and ordinary sense of the words may be modified, so as to avoid that absurdity and inconsistency, but no further."
The Golden rule takes on two approaches in statutory interpretation;
- Narrow Approach.
This approach is used in scenarios where two absurd meanings of a word exist, i.e., one that brings about a good and bad result. Here, the courts will follow the result with a less absurd result.
In R v Allen (1872) LR 1 CCR 367
Allen was charged with Bigamy. The Statute made it an offense for one to marry while the previous marriage was still in place.
By considering the literal meaning of the Statute, Allen would not have gone through a second marriage legally. Civil Law did not recognize a second marriage, and any attempt to marry in such circumstances would not have been a valid marriage.
The court applied the Narrow approach to follow the less absurd meaning and considered marriage to mean going through any marriage ceremony, thus avoiding absurdity.
See Adler V George.
- Wider Approach.
This approach is concerned with scenarios where the wording has one meaning, and the outcome is terrible. Here the Judge will have the duty to expound and apply an extensive meaning hence the wider approach. This approach allows the Judge more discretionary powers in determining a just outcome.
In the case of Re Sigsworth (1935),
A son killed his mother. She had not made a will and died intestate. The Law at the time made it possible for the son to take the inheritance of the mother's property. The son intended to claim inheritance over the mother's property.
Court applied the Golden rule, and the son was to receive nothing of the inheritance.
The court avoided using the literal rule since it was going to produce an unfair, absurd judgment.
Note: The Golden rule is applied in situations where the Literal rule brings about absurdity in its interpretation.
Also Read: Sources of Law in Uganda
Differences between the Golden Rule and Literal Rule
- The Literal rule places emphasis on the words of the Statute in the interpretation of statutes. In contrast, the Golden rule goes ahead to construct meanings beyond the wording of the Statute, for example, in the wide approach.
- The Golden rule allows Judges and courts more discretionary powers, unlike the Literal Rule that carries on the LawLaw as laid down by the Parliament.
- The Literal Rule upholds the Principle of Separation of Powers, unlike the Golden Rule.
THE MISCHIEF RULE
Where an ambiguity or contradiction surfaces in the language of the Statute while interpreting statutes, courts will look at the Mischief or irregularity that Parliament intended to curb down and construe the meaning in line with Parliament's intention.
Courts first recognized the Mischief rule in the landmark case of Heydon's Case (1584)
It was stated that in applying the Mischief rule, judges should;
- Consider what the Law was before the Act was passed
- Identify what the irregularities with the LawLaw were;
- Decide on how Parliament intended to improve the LawLaw through the Statute in question;
- Apply the findings to the case at hand.
In Corkery V Carpenter
The statute made it an offense for being drunk while in charge of 'carriage'
In this case, the defendant was on a bicycle.
Court applied the mischief rule and the bicycle to be part of the 'carriages' Being in such a state presented a danger to himself and other road users. The defendant was convicted.
Also Read: Rule of law and its relevance in Uganda
What is the difference between Interpretation and Construction?
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Construction is the process of awarding meaning to words of a statute. In construction, judges have more discretion in bringing about the true meaning of the words in question.
AIDS TO STATUTORY INTERPRETATION
Besides the rules of statutory interpretation, courts also employ other aids that help construct the meaning and interpretation of statutes.
Aids to statutory interpretation are categorized into two;
- Internal/Intrusive/Textual Aids to interpretation
- External/Extrusive/Non-textual Aids to interpretation
Internal Aids to Statutory Interpretation
These are aids to interpretation that are found from within that Statute itself.
These include;
Headings
Long Titles. Long titles should be read in context with the whole Statute while interpreting statutes.
In the Black Clawson Case, long titles were recognized as valid aids of interpretation.
Preamble
Introductory remarks of a statute containing reasons why the Statute was passed, the background of the state of things before the Parliament passed it. In the case of Attorney General V David Tinyefunza, Egonda Ntende used the preamble to further aid the interpretation of the issues in the instant case.
Punctuations
These are grammatical aspects that portray the meanings of words used in statutes in a targeted way. These include commas, and full stops, among others.
In DPP v Schildkamp (1971), Punctuations were recognized as valid aids of statutory interpretation.
Short title
Enacting words
These are introductory remarks in an Act that gives it the force of Law.
External Aids to Statutory Interpretation
These are aids of statutory interpretation that are not found within the Statute. These are external and help courts altogether in the construction of meanings of statutes.
Dictionaries
Dictionaries are documents that contain the meanings of words arranged in alphabetical order. The words are placed along with their
corresponding meanings.
For example, the Black's Law Dictionary.
Academic Literature by credible Authors
Reference can also be drawn from writings of eminent authors with sufficient credibility to resolve ambiguities.
In Katabaazi V Uganda Christian University, The author of the book Public Law in East Africa was cited for construction purposes.
Other Statutes
Other statutes that are related to the Statute in question can be used to construct the overall meaning of the Statute in question where ambiguities arise.
Parliamentary Documents
These are parliamentary papers that contain the house discussions, debates, and meeting minutes. In Davis v Johnson (1979), the House of Lords prohibited the use of Parliamentary documents for purposes of statutory interpretation.
However in, Pepper V Hart (1993), In the instant case, The House of Lords relaxed the rule, and Hansards were used to construct the meaning of the Finance Act that was in question.
In Davis V Johnson [1979], Lord Denning said,
'… [not to use Hansard] would be to grope around in the dark for the meaning of an Act without switching the light on.'
White papers
White papers are documents of the Government that are used in drafting before the passing of a bill
In W V MPC [2006],
reference was made to white papers in understanding by the word 'remove' a police officer could use force to take a 16-year-old from a 'dispersal area,' which turned out positive, and the police officer could do so.
Some Statutes have their Interpretation sections.
The interpretation sections contain the definitions of the terms used in the Act. They are usually found in the first sections before proceeding with the other sections having the words with their corresponding meanings.
For example, the Penal Code Act Cap 120 of Uganda has its interpretation section in Section 2
Reports from Law Reform Bodies
Reports made by Law Reform bodies and the passing of the Acts and Statutes are used further to understand the meaning of Acts in Statutory Interpretation.
Presumptions
These are a rebuttable set of facts that the court assumes are valid unless the contrary is provided.
For example, Courts will presume a person found in possession of goods shortly after they have been stolen is the thief.
In criminal proceedings, the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty or until that person pleads guilty.
Courts in construction use presumptions.
International Treaties and Conventions
International laws are used to give direction in construction such that judges give meanings that are not in breach of the country's international obligations. National laws are interpreted in conjunction with International laws.
Summing up
In this article, rules of Statutory Interpretation have been covered. They are not hard fast rules that courts are inclined to follow. They were developed from practice, and judges are free to employ any of the rules suitable for constructing and resolving ambiguities where they surface in statutory interpretation.
Furthermore, courts use other aids, i.e., internal and external, all to help in statutory interpretation and construction as discussed above.
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