LAW10010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Joh Bjelke-Petersen, Statutory Interpretation, United States Administrative Law
Topic 5: STATUTORY INTERPRETATION MATERIALS
Use of extrinsic materials at law
Commissioner for Prices and Consumer Affairs (SA) v Charles Moore (Aust) Pty Ltd (1977) 139
CLR 449: Courts would not refer to reports of parliamentary debates for any purpose as an
aid to the construction of a statute.
However, see Wacando v Commonwealth of Australia and the State of Queensland (1981)
148 CLR 1 and Commissioner of Taxation (Cth) v Whitfords Beach Pty Ltd (1982) 150 CLR 355.
Commissioner of Taxation (Cth) v Whitfords Beach Pty Ltd (1982) 150 CLR 355 (per Mason J):
When a bill was introduced to remedy a mischief there were grounds for making an exception
to the general rule that reports of parliamentary debates were not admissible.
Parliamentary and related materials
Owen v South Australia (1996) 66 SASR 251: Reference may be made to reports of
parliamentary debates both to ascertain the mischief and to discern the purpose or object of
the legislation in question.
The High Court also makes use of debates and referendum materials in interpreting the
Commonwealth Constitution.
Reports of law reform commissions etc sometimes suggest the enactment of legislation to
deal with the matters into which they have inquired.
Such reports are primarily referred to in order to determine the mischief the legislation is
designed to address.
If an Act purports to give effect to an international agreement, the court is at liberty to refer
to the agreement to resolve any ambiguity in the Act [Enzed Holdings Pty Ltd v Wynthea Pty
Ltd (1984) 4 FCR 450].
An agreement may be referred to although it is not mentioned in the Act [The Banco [1971]
P 137].
Where legislation provides that a particular word or phrase contained in it shall have the same
meaning as it has in an international convention or treaty, such legislation is to be interpreted
by reference to the rules applicable to the interpretation of treaties [Koowarta v Bjelke-
Petersen (1982) 153 CLR 168].
International agreements
The principle to be applied is art 31 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1967.
Article 31 provides that a treaty must be interpreted in good faith, in accordance with the
ordinary meaning of the terms in their context and in the light of the object and purpose of
the treaty.
> Assistance in interpretation may be gained from extrinsic sources pursuant to
art 32, in order to confirm the meaning resulting from the application of art
31, or to determine the meaning according to art 31 leaves the meaning
aiguous or osure or leads to a result hih is aifestl asurd or
ureasoale.
Applicant A v Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs (1997) 190 CLR 225:
> When interpreting a treaty, it is erroneous to adopt a rigid priority in the
application of interpretative rules.
> It is necessary to adopt an holistic but ordered approach, that is, the holistic
approach to interpretation may require a consideration of both the text and
the object and purpose of the treaty in order to ascertain its true meaning.
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Document Summary
Commissioner for prices and consumer affairs (sa) v charles moore (aust) pty ltd (1977) 139. Clr 449: courts would not refer to reports of parliamentary debates for any purpose as an aid to the construction of a statute. However, see wacando v commonwealth of australia and the state of queensland (1981) 148 clr 1 and commissioner of taxation (cth) v whitfords beach pty ltd (1982) 150 clr 355. Commissioner of taxation (cth) v whitfords beach pty ltd (1982) 150 clr 355 (per mason j): When a bill was introduced to remedy a mischief there were grounds for making an exception to the general rule that reports of parliamentary debates were not admissible. Owen v south australia (1996) 66 sasr 251: reference may be made to reports of parliamentary debates both to ascertain the mischief and to discern the purpose or object of the legislation in question. The high court also makes use of debates and referendum materials in interpreting the.
