A judge in the US has asked what possible relevance generative AI may have in determining the ordinary meaning of words in legal texts – Snell v United Specialty Insurance Co1. A landscaper installed an in-ground trampoline in a backyard. A young girl was injured falling from the trampoline. The owner sued the landscaper who was insured against …
Edelman J uses the term ‘textual fundamentalism’ to describe a mode of interpretation ‘that divorces the words from their context and purpose’1. The term has a long history with scriptural texts. It also resonates with the New Textualism approach to statutes in America2. Textual fundamentalism, notes the judge, drives narrow literalism and the isolation of words …
Shafran v Secretary [2024] FCA 621
S challenged a review of his pension on the basis that ‘evidence’ considered was not otherwise admissible. Banks-Smith J (at [113]) held it was intended that pension reviews consider a wide range of material, and that ‘evidence’ here should bear this extended meaning across the statute in question5.
The judge quoted the …
EMJ18 v Secretary DHA [2024] FCAFC 87
What was said in this case (at [52]) about the expressio unius principle calls for comment8. First, always apply the principle with caution9. Second, this is consistent with the general rejection of rigid rules under our ‘modern approach’. Third, even where the principle may be relevant, it may be …
Sharp v Kiama Council [2024] NSWLEC 1360
This case concerned a dispute over residential lot sizes in an environmental plan. Commissioner Espinoza (at [41]) commented on the correct way instruments of this kind are to be interpreted. He quoted Robson J in another case for the following10.
(1) The same principles applied to statutes apply to environmental planning …
Academy Construction [2024] NSWSC 808
DOCAs facilitate voluntary administration by binding the company and others to certain procedures in the administration. This DOCA termination case raises how they are to be read. Black J (at [97]) said they are to be ‘construed as statutes or, more precisely, as subordinate legislation’ rather than as contracts14.
DOCAs derive their ‘operative …
The US Supreme Court has struck down a ban on bump stocks on the basis they do not convert assault rifles into machineguns1. Bump stocks use the recoil energy of these rifles, enabling them to fire up to 800 rounds a minute2. Legislation defines ‘machinegun’ by an ability to shoot more than one shot ‘by a …
Arrotex Pharmaceuticals v Minister [2024] FCA 522
This case is interesting for Rofe J’s description (at [46]) of the central passage in SZTAL as the ‘axiomatic approach’ to interpretation6. There, the High Court said that, if the ordinary meaning ‘is not consistent with the statutory purpose, [it] must be rejected’.
This principle has its roots in s 15AA. …
eSafety Commissioner v X Corp [2024] FCA 499
The eSC gave a notice seeking to force X (Twitter) to block globally a violent video10. If not blocked, Australians might access the video via VPNs. This raised how far domestic law may reach into the global sphere consistent with the ‘comity of nations’.
Kennett J (at [49-51]) explained that …
Whai Rawa Railway v BC 201036 [2024] NZCA 207
Episode 92 noted that the frequent instruction of our High Court to have regard to text, context and purpose12 is hardwired into NZ legislation. Section 10(1) of their Legislation Act 2019 says – ‘The meaning of legislation must be ascertained from its text and in the light of its …
