Once Parliament has passed an Act, it then falls to the courts to apply the statute in a particular case. This can lead to difficulties where the facts of the case may not have been envisaged by Parliament or where there exist drafting errors or ambiguity in the statute. There exists The Interpretation Act of 1978 which provides certain basic definitions such as singular includes plural and he includes she. In addition the courts have developed rules to assist judges in interpreting statutes.
The rules of statutory interpretation (cannons of construction)
Although referred to as 'rules' they are not strictly binding and some commentators have argued that they are used to justify a decision rather than assisting the decision making process.
In addition to these rules there exists the purposive approach which derives from the European Court of Justice and must be used by domestic judges when applying a piece of EU law.
Also the judges are assisted by various aids to interpretation. These can be internal aids (also referred to as intrinsic aids) or external aids (also referred to as extrinsic aids).
Purposive approach
The purposive approach is used in the European Court of Justice. Domestic judges must apply the purposive approach in the English courts when interpreting or applying a piece of EU law. In Maunsell v Ollins Lord Simons laid down a two tier test. Firstly the judge is to look to the purpose of the legislation and then must look at the words and interpret them according to the purpose.
