Aids to Interpretation

Intrinsic Aids

- Aids found within an Act

Long/Short Title

• Abortion Act 1967 - "An Act to amend and clarify the law relating to termination of pregnancy by registered medical practitioners"

Preamble

• Sets out the purpose of the Act in detail

Schedules

• Additions to the main body of text which can be used to make sense of the main body of text

Definition Section

• Explains the meaning of key words in the Act

Punctuation

• Recognised to have an effect on the meaning of words

Advantages & Disadvantages of Intrinsic Aids

• The long and short titles of Acts are of limited use
• The preamble is only really good for the Mischief Rule and the Purposive Approach
• The definition section is extremely useful for definining certain words
• There is a doubt whether punctuation should be used as it was not used in Acts before 1850

Extrinsic Aids

- Aids found outside the Act

Dictionaries

• Used to look up the meaning of words - Vaughn v Vaughn

Previous Acts

• Used to interpret an Act using the previous Act - Wheatly

Interpretation Act 1978

• Provides definition off words commonly found in Acts

Reports of Law Reform Bodies

• These reports highlight what is wrong with old laws

Hansard

• Reports of Parliamentary debates. Available to Judges since Pepper v Hart

Textbooks

• Can be used for guidance - Re Castioni

Advantages & Disadvantages of

Extrinsic Aids

• Dictionaries are useful when using the Literal Rule
• Other Acts can be useful when using the Mischief Rule
• Interpretation Act 1978 is useful for interpreting words or phrases, but not as good for technical words
• Hansard is useful when using the Purposive Approach as it shows Parliament's intentions