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 commands, however, only beg the question about how policy affects interpretation at the day-to-day practical level2. This episode of iNOW! aims to demonstrate the importance of policy in reading statutes, while marking out its proper sphere of influence and the main points of caution. Please enjoy!
Di Spencer – Tax Counsel Network
See here for the official PDF of interpretationNOW! Episode 6
In this episode:
Footnotes:
Writer – Gordon Brysland, Producer – Michelle Janczarski. Thanks to Martin Jacobs, Jo Stewart and Ben Kelly.
1 W R Carpenter [2007] FCAFC 103 (at [29]).
2 Robertson QC (2014) 43 AT Rev 22 (at 30).