Why is Statutory interpretation necessary?
Johnson v Moreton [1980] AC 27 In this case Hailsham accepted that 9/10 of the case heard in the House of Lords dealt with statutory interpretation. Zander (The Law-Making Process) gave three reasons why it is necessary: 1 Complexity of statutes. They are difficult and complex subjects. They tend to mix legal and technical language. Most are created with more than one draftsman causing incoherence. 2 Statutes must anticipate the future and often use indeterminate terms. It is impossible to deal with every situation which might arise. Judges therefore have to interpret statutes because of the gaps in law. Situations originally not intended have to be covered. Indeterminate terms used include words such as reasonable. The courts determine this e.g. they determine what reasonable force actually means. 3 Words are an imprecise form of communication. Words may have different meanings. Each party in curt will use the meaning most helpful to their argument and the courts have to decide which
