week 2 - courts + interpreting statutes Flashcards

Question

who hears cases at a high court?

Answer 1

high court judges.

Answer 2

Chancery division = matters relating to finance, mortgages, trusts, company law etc. Queens bench division = contract and tort cases not suitable for county courts, may have cases heard by a jury. Family division = deals with matrimonial and family issues such as divorce.

Answer 3

a court that has separate criminal and civil divisions, hearing appeals from all other courts (county, high and crown). they have 40 justices of appeal.

Answer 4

they can only take place with permission of the court the case was heard in or the court to which the appeal is being made. Permission is only given if the appeal has a real prospect of success or there is another compelling reason for it to be heard.

Answer 5

highest appeal court in England and Wales, cases heard involve points of law of significant importance (either from a public or constitutional perspective). Some cases may go straight to the supreme court from the high court (passing the court of appeal).

Answer 6

12 justices with at least 3 hearing each case.

Answer 7

written laws created by a legislative authority eg act of parliament. They have to be written in a way that ensures they are flexible enough to cover different situations.

Answer 8

the literal rule, the golden rule, the mischief rule, the contextual rule.

Answer 9

the words in a statute are examined using their literal meaning. Rules won’t be used if words have more than 1 meaning, if misused it could lead to absurd results.

Answer 10

if the literal result causes problematic results, the courts can use the golden rule. The literal meaning of the word can be modified in order to avoid absurdity.

Answer 11

judges examine the common law that existed before to see what was the problem that existed which the common law did not deal with and what remedy the stature was trying to offer.

Answer 12

the meaning of the word is taken from its surrounding text in the statute. Example; footballs, goalposts, corner flags and other equipment would only include other football related equipment.

Answer 13

The context of the statute: examining surrounding provisions to understand meaning. Legislative history: reviewing debates and reports to understand the intent behind the legislation. Precedent cases: analysing previous court decisions that have interpreted similar. Dictionary definitions: clarifying the meaning of specific words within the statute.

Answer 14

the literal rule: a statute made it an offence to impersonate “any person entitled to vote” and the defendant impersonated a dead person. Verdict: because dead people were not entitled to vote, the defendant was acquitted.

Answer 15

the golden rule: defendant was charged under the official secrets act 1920 with obstruction “in the vicinity of a prohibited area”, defendant argued that as they were inside the area this was not in the vicinity of it. Verdict: using the golden rule, the statute was interpreted that being “in the vicinity” of the area also meant being inside it.

Answer 16

the mischief rule: c was charged with “being drunk on the highway in charge of a carriage”, C was riding a bicycle so question was whether a bike could be regarded as a carriage. Verdict: court looked to see what the statute intended and decided that a “carriage” could be interpreted as including a bicycle.