Two points made in Episode 66 – Circle of Meaning– were that the law ‘needs to work’, and that we are to finish with the text (at least to ensure that the meaning chosen is ‘open on the words’). A superannuation case just decided illustrates both points1. One problem was that a particular ‘income stream’ was to …
DRJ v Victims Rights (No 2) [2020] NSWCA 242
Five Yazidi women who had never been to Australia were subjected to violence in Syria by an Australian man. Benefits under NSW law were denied as the violence did not occur in NSW4. This outcome depended on the scope of the law, interpretation provisions5, presumptions that statutes …
Cooper v Strata Plan No 58068 [2020] NSWCA 250
The Coopers kept a little dog in their apartment contrary to a by-law saying occupiers ‘must not keep or permit any animal to be on a lot’. They argued that this was ‘harsh, unconscionable or oppressive’8.
Basten JA said that phrase was ‘fraught with difficulty’, that dictionaries were of …
Eichmann v FCT [2020] FCAFC 155
Was a block of land next door to a builder and used by him for storage purposes an ‘active asset’ under CGT concessions?9 ‘Yes’ – the builder got relief on disposal of the land. The court (at [38-40]) read the provisions beneficially ‘to promote the purpose of the concessions’ to ‘give the …
Vincentia MC Pharmacy v ACPA [2020] FCAFC 163
Ordinary interpretation principles apply to legislative instruments – nothing new here12. This case stresses the settled content of those principles13, the need always to consider statutory purpose from the get-go14, and the mandatory nature of s 15AA in choosing the meaning that best achieves that purpose…
Interpretation involves a process of working out what legislation means. It’s not intuition, it’s not revelation, and it’s not working back from some desirable outcome. The basic process under our ‘modern approach’ is directed by the High Court1. Start with the text, consider context up-front in the ‘widest sense’2, choose between open meanings firstly by reference …
Following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Amy Coney Barrett has been appointed to the US Supreme Court. The high-octane confirmation process for the new judge illustrates a basic truth – interpretation matters! In a country with no working consensus on how the Constitution or statutes are to be read, the stance of any candidate is of great importance to …
Orr v Cobar Management [2020] NSWCCA 220
The presumption of consistent meaning is a strong one across the statute book even though it bows to context in appropriate situations4. The court in this case5 points out that, even in statutes amended from time-to-time, the presumption exerts its power6.
When parliament uses a term (or a …
Berkeley Challenge v United [2020] FCAFC 113
BC argued they were not liable for redundancy payments because dismissal of their employees was within ‘the ordinary and customary turnover of labour’9. Rejecting this, the court held (at [188]) that the legislative motivation in re-enacting the words in question was that they play the ‘same role as they did under …
Mondelez Australia v AMWU [2020] HCA 29
This decision on the meaning of ‘day’ for leave purposes touches various interpretation themes11. One, it offers a clear example of the need always to ‘start with the statute’ (at [14]). Two, it illustrates the influence an objects clause may have (at [41]).
Three, the proper role of extrinsic materials is …
