Statutory Interpretation The Technique of Statutory ... - Francis Bennion

Guides to Legislative Intention I: Rules of Construction 133
itself. This greatly reduces the danger area. The formula is 'T means A, B, C or D, or any other
manifestation of T'. An example is the following definition contained in the Supreme Court Act
1981, s 72(5): ' "intellectual property" means any patent, trade mark, copyright, registered design,
technical or commercial information or other intellectual property'.
Labelling definition This uses a term as a label denoting a concept which can then be referred to
merely by use of the label. Instead of the drafter having to keep repeating the description of the
concept, the label alone can be used. In its simplest form a labelling definition may be very brief. Thus
the Courts Act 1971, s 57(1) stated that in the Act 'the Judicature Act 1925' meant the Supreme
Court of Judicature Act 1925. This enabled a commonly used abbreviated short title to be employed
throughout the Act. A common device is for an amending Act to use the label 'the principal Act' to
described the Act it is amending.
A labelling definition may be in indirect form. Thus the Employment Protection (Consolidation)
Act 1978, s 58(5) states: 'Any reason by virtue of which a dismissal is to be regarded as unfair in
consequence of subsection (1) or (3) is in this Part referred to as an inadmissible reason'.
In selecting a label the drafter must bear in mind that words have their own potency. Whatever
meaning may be expressly attached to a term, the dictionary or legal meaning exercises some sway over
the way the definition will be understood by the court. As Richard Robinson said: 'it is not possible to
cancel the ingrained emotion of a word merely by an announcement' (Robinson 1952, p 77). An
example related to dictionary meaning arose in Eastleigh BC v Betts [1982] 2 AC 613, 628, where the
definition said that a person is to be taken to have, or not to have, a 'local connection' with a
place by reference to stated concepts such as normal residence, employment, and family connections.
The House of Lords treated the stated concepts not in their ordinary sense but as coloured by the
overall idea of 'local connection'. An example related to legal meaning is furnished by McCollom v
Wrightson [1968] AC 522, where the House of Lords considered the apparently comprehensive
definition of 'gaming' in the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Act 1963 s 55(1) and held that the
common law meaning of 'gaming' must be taken to apply so as to cut down the width of the statutory
definition.
Referential definition This attracts a meaning already established in law, whether by statute or
otherwise. Thus the Charities Act 1960, s 45(1) says that in the Act 'ecclesiastical charity' has the
same meaning as in the Local Government Act 1894. The method carries a danger. Suppose the Act
referred to is amended or repealed? Here the principle is clear. Unless the amending or repealing Act
contains