Have you ever known (or thought you’ve known) the purpose of a provision because you were involved, in one way or another, in its drafting? You may have spoken to someone who claims to have written the law and is dead-set certain what they meant. This may be interesting but, when it comes to interpretation, it is irrelevant. As iNOW! said in Episode 1, the High Court tells us that ‘legislative intention’ is just a metaphor1. It doesn’t matter what the Minister, or anyone else, actually intended. When we make decisions or submissions to a court, we must take a step back and judge legislative purpose objectively – for example, by considering the wording of the section and how it fits within the broader legislative context.
Andrew Orme – Review and Dispute Resolution
See here for the official PDF of interpretationNOW! Episode 18
In this episode:
Footnotes:
Writers – Michelle Janczarski and Gordon Brysland. Thanks to Ivica Bolonja and Jo Stewart.
1 Certain Lloyds Underwriters v Cross [2012] HCA 56 (at [24-25]).