Interpretation of Legislation: Trends in Statutory Interpretation and the Judicial Process
Essay in Roles and Perspectives in the Law: Essays in Honour of Sir Ivor Richardson. David Carter and Matthew Palmer (eds) (2002 Victoria University Press, Wellington)
15 Pages Posted: 10 Feb 2016
Date Written: 2002
Abstract
This article is presented in two sections. The first section analyses the changing approaches to statutory interpretation taken by the New Zealand Judiciary, their advantages and disadvantages, and how the methods are influenced by legislation, parliamentary intent and judicial personalities. The author argues in the second section that well-reasoned dissenting judgments are a valuable part of the legal process. The recent decrease in dissents is of concern if it is the result of a strong commitment by the Court to consensus and unanimity.
Keywords: legislation, statute, interpretation, judiciary, judicial, dissent, disagreement, opinion, purposive, approach, consensus, unanimity, uncertainty, uncertain, ambiguity, golden, rule, literal, purposive, natural, ordinary, context, value, based, consistent, bias, personality, subjective
JEL Classification: K00, K10, K20, K41, K23
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation