30 Years of Pepper v Hart: an empirical review

Abstract

Over 30 years has passed since the House of Lords handed down its seminal decision in Pepper v Hart. That decision made it possible, under tightly construed circumstances, for judges to consider Hansard materials when approaching the construction of a statutory provision. Perhaps surprisingly, there has been as of yet no empirical study into the workings of this important judicial tool. This article seeks to redress this deficiency. Using a bespoke dataset compiling information from 427 judgments, this article answers a number of important questions relating to the use of Pepper v Hart, and uncovers relevant trends and tendencies in the case law. It explains how often Pepper v Hart is invoked and how stringent the criteria have been applied in practice, whether the invocation of Pepper v Hart has changed over time, and which courts are most likely to make use of this power. Some reflections on the overall legacy of Pepper v Hart are offered to conclude.

Keywords: parliamentary materials, Pepper v Hart, parliament, statutory interpretation