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Statutory Interpretation

By the time the students embark upon this topic they will already understand the role that the judiciary play in creating new law and using cases to demonstate the law as created by the Houses of Parliament through their Acts.  However this topic explores the complexities that the judges are faced with in their desire to ensure that the true intentions of Parliament are adhered to.  Additionally the judges appear to have created further complexity by abiding by rules that seem to contradict one another!

A breakdown of the topic:

a) The need for Statutory Interpretation

b) Literal approach versus Purposive approach

c) The Literal Rule

d) The Golden Rule

e) The Mischief Rule

f) Rules of Language

g) Presumptions

h) Unified Approach

i) The Purposive Approach

j) Finding Parliament' Intention

k) The Human Rights Act 1998

Assessment:

You will be assessed on this topic in line with OCR standards.  The assessment will be a past paper question.  This question will test your knowledge and application of that knowledge to AS Level exam standard. Click here to access the question.