LEGAL ISSUES

Law Assignment

Part #1

Situation

In this case, Sam, owner of a mobile fish and chips van receives a summon court in which he is charged of breaching a bylaw of A55 dual carriageway. It is said in the court summon that he breached the bylaw according to which: 'It is an offence to operate any mobile premises on the A55 for the sale of burgers, hot dogs or other food. The sale of coffee, tea and other hot drinks is also prohibited.'

On the other hand, Sam has taken the stance that he only sells fish and chips and that is why they cannot charge him with the breach of any bylaw. In this case, it is necessary that statutory misinterpretation rules must be explained to him which may cause him to come across risk of an offence.

Statutory Interpretation Rules

"Interpret" in the broadest sense, means understanding a text, a linguistic expression or a speech acts. Interpretation methods vary according to the legal system (Rosenkranz, 2002, pp. 2085). They are different in civil law and common law. According to Professor Devinat, civil law, there is more to a decline of textualism, whereas at common law the law is an exception, based on case law and decisions. In the case of Sam, a probability of misinterpretation may arise causing him to commit any offense against the bylaw (Rogers and Walters, 2006, pp. 190).

As after reading the summon, Sam claims that they cannot touch him because he just sells fish and chips which is not listed in the statement, rules statutory interpretation will be considered to either defend the case or to avoid any penalty or punishment. The interpretation of statutory are required when uncertainty and complexities arise regarding “what the law section is providing” and “to whom it is providing within the provisions” (Levin, 2012, pp. 1103-1157). There are certain cases in which judges may call for statues to be further interpreted for example; when the section or the statement is unable to cover a broad term, a specific point, a drafting error, an ambiguity and use of language. Due to these reasons, charges person may also misinterpret the statute and file case against the notice which is the case with Sam. There are different rules of statutory interpretation under which the case of Sam will be studied and he will be advised for further action. These rules are literal rule, golden rule and the mischief rule (Mitchell and Blood, 2012, pp. 31-51).

The Literal Rule

When a piece of legislation is presented to the court, they are required to interpret its meaning very carefully so that those legislations could be applied to the case presented to them. There is a range of rules developed by courts which assist them interpreting the legislations. When literal rule is applied to any legislation it means the statement or its words are given their natural and ordinary meaning (Levin, 2012, pp. 1103-1157). It means that the legislation will be read as it is given and will not ...