Tutorial Questions Week 3
1. When interpreting legislation, the Courts use several approaches to aid their interpretation. Describe how the literal, golden and mischief rules of interpretation operate.
2. The skills to Interpreting legislation are crucial to legal problem solving. In order give the correct advice, you must first identify the issues, articulate an argument, reach a conclusion and give reasons for such a conclusion. You may wish to consider both sides of the argument, but do not waste effort formulating an argument that you consider to be without merit.
Section 1 of the Street Offences Act 1989 provides:
This Act is intended to prevent solicitation for purposes of prostitution in streets and other public places.
Section 2 provides:
It shall be an offence for a prostitute to loiter or solicit in a street or public place for the purposes of prostitution.
Carla, a prostitute, was charged under this section. It was established that from inside a house she had solicited men passing in the street by tapping on the windowpane to attract their attention and then either directly or by signs invited them into the house. Could Carla be convicted?
3 Assume that the NSW parliament wants to prohibit under-age gambling. To this extent it introduces an Act which states: “any person under the age of eighteen years who is found in the vicinity of a betting shop shall be prosecuted and liable to a maximum fine of $500.” Ian is 15 years old and decides to place a bet in a betting shop. He walks in, places a bet and begins to walk out when he is stopped by a police officer. He is questioned and told that he will be charged under the Act. Two weeks later, Ian receives a summons to a Local Court for an offence against the Act. In his defence, Ian’s counsel argues that the he is not guilty of the offence, because when he was apprehended, he was “in” the betting shop, whilst the Act prohibits underage persons being in the “vicinity”. Advice Ian on how the court might
‘Early in 1994,
2. The skills to Interpreting legislation are crucial to legal problem solving. In order give the correct advice, you must first identify the issues, articulate an argument, reach a conclusion and give reasons for such a conclusion. You may wish to consider both sides of the argument, but do not waste effort formulating an argument that you consider to be without merit.
Section 1 of the Street Offences Act 1989 provides:
This Act is intended to prevent solicitation for purposes of prostitution in streets and other public places.
Section 2 provides:
It shall be an offence for a prostitute to loiter or solicit in a street or public place for the purposes of prostitution.
Carla, a prostitute, was charged under this section. It was established that from inside a house she had solicited men passing in the street by tapping on the windowpane to attract their attention and then either directly or by signs invited them into the house. Could Carla be convicted?
3 Assume that the NSW parliament wants to prohibit under-age gambling. To this extent it introduces an Act which states: “any person under the age of eighteen years who is found in the vicinity of a betting shop shall be prosecuted and liable to a maximum fine of $500.” Ian is 15 years old and decides to place a bet in a betting shop. He walks in, places a bet and begins to walk out when he is stopped by a police officer. He is questioned and told that he will be charged under the Act. Two weeks later, Ian receives a summons to a Local Court for an offence against the Act. In his defence, Ian’s counsel argues that the he is not guilty of the offence, because when he was apprehended, he was “in” the betting shop, whilst the Act prohibits underage persons being in the “vicinity”. Advice Ian on how the court might
‘Early in 1994,