The Judiciary, Discrimination Law and Statutory Interpretation

The Judiciary, Discrimination Law and Statutory Interpretation PDF Author: Michael Connolly
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429834799
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 261

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Book Description
In 1856, the US Supreme Court denied Dred Scott, now free of slavery, his Constitutional rights, solely because he was black. According to the Court, when the Constitution was drafted, some 60 years earlier, its authors would not have intended that ‘a subordinate and inferior class of beings’ qualified as citizens of the United States. Thus, the meaning of language drafted over half a century before was frozen in time. This case, perhaps more than any other, demonstrates that the matter of statutory interpretation is critical, technical, and, sometimes, highly emotive. The case is not a mere nugget from history to indulge our disgust with values of another age, and with it a satisfaction of our progress to today’s higher moral ground. It is the unfortunate case that the senior courts of England continue to produce highly contentious interpretations of our equality and discrimination laws. This book examines these cases from the perspective of statutory interpretation, the judge’s primary function. The scrutiny finds the judgments technically flawed, overcomplicated, excessively long, and often unduly restrictive. As such, this book explains how the cases should have been resolved – using conventional methods of interpretation; this would have produced simpler, technically sound judgments. Rather like the case of Dred Scott, these were easy cases producing bad law.

The English Judiciary, Discrimination Law and Statutory Interpretation

The English Judiciary, Discrimination Law and Statutory Interpretation PDF Author: Michael Connolly (Law teacher)
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780429450808
Category : LAW
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


The Judiciary, Discrimination Law and Statutory Interpretation

The Judiciary, Discrimination Law and Statutory Interpretation PDF Author: Michael Connolly
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429834799
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 261

Get Book

Book Description
In 1856, the US Supreme Court denied Dred Scott, now free of slavery, his Constitutional rights, solely because he was black. According to the Court, when the Constitution was drafted, some 60 years earlier, its authors would not have intended that ‘a subordinate and inferior class of beings’ qualified as citizens of the United States. Thus, the meaning of language drafted over half a century before was frozen in time. This case, perhaps more than any other, demonstrates that the matter of statutory interpretation is critical, technical, and, sometimes, highly emotive. The case is not a mere nugget from history to indulge our disgust with values of another age, and with it a satisfaction of our progress to today’s higher moral ground. It is the unfortunate case that the senior courts of England continue to produce highly contentious interpretations of our equality and discrimination laws. This book examines these cases from the perspective of statutory interpretation, the judge’s primary function. The scrutiny finds the judgments technically flawed, overcomplicated, excessively long, and often unduly restrictive. As such, this book explains how the cases should have been resolved – using conventional methods of interpretation; this would have produced simpler, technically sound judgments. Rather like the case of Dred Scott, these were easy cases producing bad law.

Dynamic Statutory Interpretation

Dynamic Statutory Interpretation PDF Author: William N. Eskridge
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674218789
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 460

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Book Description
Contrary to traditional theories of statutory interpretation, which ground statutes in the original legislative text or intent, legal scholar William Eskridge argues that statutory interpretation changes in response to new political alignments, new interpreters, and new ideologies. It does so, first of all, because it involves richer authoritative texts than does either common law or constitutional interpretation: statutes are often complex and have a detailed legislative history. Second, Congress can, and often does, rewrite statutes when it disagrees with their interpretations; and agencies and courts attend to current as well as historical congressional preferences when they interpret statutes. Third, since statutory interpretation is as much agency-centered as judgecentered and since agency executives see their creativity as more legitimate than judges see theirs, statutory interpretation in the modern regulatory state is particularly dynamic. Eskridge also considers how different normative theories of jurisprudence--liberal, legal process, and antiliberal--inform debates about statutory interpretation. He explores what theory of statutory interpretation--if any--is required by the rule of law or by democratic theory. Finally, he provides an analytical and jurisprudential history of important debates on statutory interpretation.

The English Judiciary, Discrimination Law and Statutory Interpretation

The English Judiciary, Discrimination Law and Statutory Interpretation PDF Author: Michael Connolly (Law teacher)
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781138324565
Category : Courts
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This book examines these cases from the perspective of statutory interpretation, the judge's primary function. The scrutiny finds the judgments technically flawed, overcomplicated, excessively long, and often unduly restrictive. As such, this book explains how the cases should have been resolved .

Judging Statutes

Judging Statutes PDF Author: Robert A. Katzmann
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199362149
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
In an ideal world, the laws of Congress--known as federal statutes--would always be clearly worded and easily understood by the judges tasked with interpreting them. But many laws feature ambiguous or even contradictory wording. How, then, should judges divine their meaning? Should they stick only to the text? To what degree, if any, should they consult aids beyond the statutes themselves? Are the purposes of lawmakers in writing law relevant? Some judges, such as Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, believe courts should look to the language of the statute and virtually nothing else. Chief Judge Robert A. Katzmann of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit respectfully disagrees. In Judging Statutes, Katzmann, who is a trained political scientist as well as a judge, argues that our constitutional system charges Congress with enacting laws; therefore, how Congress makes its purposes known through both the laws themselves and reliable accompanying materials should be respected. He looks at how the American government works, including how laws come to be and how various agencies construe legislation. He then explains the judicial process of interpreting and applying these laws through the demonstration of two interpretative approaches, purposivism (focusing on the purpose of a law) and textualism (focusing solely on the text of the written law). Katzmann draws from his experience to show how this process plays out in the real world, and concludes with some suggestions to promote understanding between the courts and Congress. When courts interpret the laws of Congress, they should be mindful of how Congress actually functions, how lawmakers signal the meaning of statutes, and what those legislators expect of courts construing their laws. The legislative record behind a law is in truth part of its foundation, and therefore merits consideration.

Interpreting Discrimination Law Creatively

Interpreting Discrimination Law Creatively PDF Author: Alice Taylor (author)
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781509952953
Category : Discrimination
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This book explores the judiciary's role in achieving substantive equality utilising statutory discrimination law. The normative literature suggests that to eliminate discrimination, courts have to adopt a more substantive interpretation of discrimination laws, but the extent to which this has occurred is variable. The book tackles the problem by exploring the idea that there needs to be a 'creative' interpretation of discrimination law to achieve substantive results. The author asks: is a 'creative' interpretation of statutory discrimination law consistent with the institutional role of the judiciary? The author takes a comparative approach to the interpretation of non-discrimination rights by considering the interpretation of statutory discrimination law in the UK, Canada and Australia. The book explores the differences in doctrine that have developed by considering key controversies in discrimination law: Who does discrimination law protect? What is discrimination? When can discrimination be justified? The author argues that differences in the case law in each jurisdiction are explained by the way in which the appropriate role for the courts in rights review, norm elaboration and institutional competence is conceived in each studied jurisdiction. It provides valuable reading for academics, policy makers and those researching discrimination law and statutory human rights.

Discrimination Law

Discrimination Law PDF Author: Michael Connolly
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780414046061
Category : Discrimination
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This text provides in-depth and accessible guidance on discrimination law. It covers the UK and EU with comparisons to the US, Canada and Australia, and analyses the different theories and definitions of what is classed as discrimination.

Judicial Independence at the Crossroads

Judicial Independence at the Crossroads PDF Author: Stephen B Burbank
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 9780761926573
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
This volume is a collection of essays on the contentious issues of judicial independence and federal judicial selection, written by leading scholars from the disciplines of law, political science, history, economics, and sociology.

Manual on Employment Discrimination Law and Civil Rights Actions in the Federal Courts

Manual on Employment Discrimination Law and Civil Rights Actions in the Federal Courts PDF Author: Charles R. Richey
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Civil rights
Languages : en
Pages : 908

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Book Description


Public Law and Statutory Interpretation

Public Law and Statutory Interpretation PDF Author: Lisa Burton Crawford
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781760021528
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
This book is the first of its kind to provide a clearly written and comprehensive overview of public law principles, together with the principles and process of statutory interpretation. The former inform the fundamental nature of the Australian legal system; the latter is vital knowledge in a legal system in which statute law is so pervasive. This approach is consistent with the contemporary case law of the Australian High Court, emphasising that the principles of statutory interpretation reflect the constitutional relationship between the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government.More particularly, the book provides:an overview of the origins and key stages in the development of the Australian legal system;an explanation of the concepts and ideals that form the foundation of Australian public law;an introduction to the institutions, structures and powers of, and relationships between, the three branches of the Australian government; andan explanation of how, in light of key public law principles, legislation is interpreted by Australia's courts.This book will be useful to scholars and practitioners seeking to understand the foundational principles of Australian public law, or statutory interpretation. The four authors, all experienced researchers and teachers in public law, designed it to be a complete resource for introductory public law units, before students move on to more advanced subjects such as Constitutional and Administrative Law.The book adopts an engaging and approachable style with expository and analytical text, combined with carefully edited extracts of key cases and straightforward commentary on both foundational and advanced issues. It also includes:several in-depth case studies, which provide an opportunity to engage with pressing public law issues in a practical context;discussion questions, reflective exercises and other activities, to demonstrate the contemporary significance of the issues explored in the text.