Episodes

iNOW! began as a way to address the need – recognised by top judges – for those working with legislation to get better at reading it.  Yet, stand-alone interpretation courses are still not taught in universities and, of course, reading statutes is not just the playground of the legally trained.  Instead, people pick up the skills by osmosis, by …

iNOW! has noted the ‘constructional choices’ that may emerge in zones of contested interpretation.  Two things are usually necessary to bring forward those choices.  First, a working knowledge of the principles for determining what parliament meant by the words it used.  Second, a mindset to apply those principles flexibly and with understanding.  Courts tell us to be ‘wary …

To get the culture we want means changing things, including how we communicate.  Better communication starts with better understanding and involves simpler, smarter messaging delivered in more efficient, modern ways.  iNOW! is a small part of this process at the ATO.  We aim to boost awareness of interpretation issues generally via short simple messages – tweets almost.  Reducing technical …

Finding the latest learning on an interpretation issue is not that hard.  Go to the standard text¹ and/or past episodes of iNOW! and locate the leading case or core passage.  Select some keywords and run a ‘Boolean query’ through AustLII.  If there are too many hits, add keywords.  Review your catch under ‘by date’, clicking the ‘latest first’ …

Senior judges routinely draw attention to the complex nature of interpretation within which constructional choices are all but ‘inescapable’¹.  One observation is that the choice between open alternatives for the ‘best contextual interpretation’ is more art than science².  The more skilled and perceptive the reader, the more apparent and abundant the choices based on the text …

The late Justice Antonin Scalia of the US Supreme Court had a massive influence on interpretation¹.  At a 2011 conference, Pagone J said it was a ‘daunting privilege’ to introduce the American judge².  His ‘originalist’ ideas on how the US constitution should be read³ – what framers meant at the time – now dominates debate.  …

As flagged in Episode 7, interpretation NOW! goes public this month in response to growing external interest – find it under ‘miscellaneous papers’ in the ATO Legal Database.  iNOW! is a TCN initiative to improve awareness about what courts are saying in this increasingly important field.  iNOW! is not legal advice or a public ruling, nor is it a substitute …

There is growing external interest in getting access to interpretation NOW! – something which will occur soon.  Tax Institute president Stephen Healey says iNOW! ‘provides excellent guidance’, and that it ‘distils these complex matters into more user friendly and practical guides’.  Professor Dennis Pearce, co-author of Pearce & Geddes Statutory Interpretation in Australia, writes – ‘I like your text-context-text …

The relationship between law and policy has always been difficult.  Nowhere is this felt more deeply than at the interpretation stage, and particularly where an administrator is involved.  The key rules here are – (A) to apply the law not the policy¹, (B) to start and finish with the text, and (C) to apply purposive principles.  These simple …

One theme from Episode 2 is reflected in a recent paper from Helen Symon QC¹ – ‘One’s best guide is always the text of the provision in question.  One cannot return to the text often enough, asking “What does the section say?”  One may travel through context, purpose, extrinsic materials or legislative history.  However, it is always necessary to …