THE LAW REFORM COMMISSION OF HONG KONG REPORT EXTRINSIC MATERIALS AS AN AID TO STATUTORY INTERPRETATION This report can be found on the Internet at: <http://www.hkreform.gov.hk> MARCH 1997 The Law Reform Commission was established by His Excellency the Governor in Council in January 1980. The Commission considers such reforms of the laws of Hong Kong as may be referred to it by the Attorney General or the Chief Justice. The members of the Commission at present are: The Hon Mr J F Mathews, CMG, JP (Attorney General) (Chairman) Mr Tony Yen (Law Draftsman) The Hon Mr Justice J Chan Mr Eric Cheung Professor Yash Ghai, CBE Professor Kuan Hsin-chi Dr Lawrence Lai Mr Andrew Liao, QC Mr Gage McAfee Mr Alasdair G Morrison Mr Robert Ribeiro, QC Professor Derek Roebuck Professor Peter Wesley-Smith Mr Justein Wong Chun, JP The Secretary of the Commission is Mr Stuart M I Stoker and its offices are at: 20/F Harcourt House 39 Gloucester Road Wanchai Hong Kong Telephone: 2528 0472 Fax: 2865 2902 E-mail: [email protected] A summary of this report can be found on the Internet at: http://www.hkreform.gov.hk Miss Paula Scully, Senior Crown Counsel, was principally responsible for the writing of this Commission report. THE LAW REFORM COMMISSION OOF HONG KONG REPORT EXTRINSIC MATERIALS AS AN AID TO STATUTORY INTERPRETATION _____________________________________ CONTENTS Chapter Page Introduction 1 Terms of reference 1 Background Paper 1 Membership and method of work 2 What is the importance of statutory interpretation? 2 What are extrinsic aids to interpretation? 3 Scope of report 3 1. The Role of the Courts 6 Introduction 6 Background : constitutional theory 6 The "mischief" rule 6 The "literal" rule 8 The "golden" rule 9 Criticism of the rules 9 The present rule 10 2. Extrinsic Aids and Judicial Interpretation 12 Introduction 12 Purpose of extrinsic aids 12 Categories of extrinsic aids 13 (1) Historical setting 13 (2) Parliamentary history and debates 14 (3) Official Reports and Law Reform Commission Reports 16 (4) Explanatory memoranda 21 i Chapter Page (5) Textbooks and dictionaries 23 (6) International conventions or treaties 24 (7) Travaux preparatoires 29 (8) Other statutes 30 (9) Conveyancing and administrative practice 33 (10) Uniform court decisions and usage 34 (11) Delegated legislation 34 Conclusion 36 3. The Rationale of the Courts in Excluding Extrinsic Aids 37 Introduction 37 Constitutional balance between parliament and the courts 38 Parliamentary intention 39 Parliamentary privilege 40 Judicial Bill of Rights argument 41 The need for legal certainty 41 Practical aspects 42 Lack of availability 44 Unreliability of extrinsic aids 44 Conclusion 46 4. Rationale of the Courts in Allowing Extrinsic Aids 47 Official reports 47 Parliamentary materials 51 Conclusion 55 5. Analysis of Pepper v Hart 56 Introduction 56 The facts of Pepper v Hart 56 Parliamentary privilege 57 Constitutional balance between parliament and the courts 58 Parliamentary history of the Finance Act 1976 58 Parliamentary materials 59 Reliance on the ministerial statement 60 What is the impact of taking Hansard into account, 60 in construing section 63? Rationale for allowing parliamentary materials as extrinsic aids 61 Rationale for objecting to Hansard 62 Response 62 Rules of construction 63 Conclusion 63 ii Chapter Page 6. Judicial Developments since Pepper v Hart 64 Introduction 64 Parliamentary intention and the rule in Pepper v Hart 65 (1) First limb of the rule 66 (i) Legislation 66 (ii) Official reports 70 (iii) Other extrinsic aids 74 (2) Second limb of the rule 75 (i) Parliamentary materials 75 (ii) Weight to be attached to Hansard 79 (3) Third limb of the rule 79 Taxing statutes 84 Criminal statutes 85 Use of parliamentary materials to confirm the statutory meaning 87 Reference to earlier legislation 89 Reference to later legislation 90 Legitimate expectation 91 Parliamentary privilege 92 7. Comparative Law 93 Part I : Non statutory approaches to reform 93 Introduction 93 The United Kingdom 93 (i) The Law Commissions' Report 93 (ii) The Renton Committee Report 99 (iii) Interpretation Bills 100 (iv) Hansard Society's Report 103 Europe 104 Ghana 105 Sri Lanka 106 New Zealand 106 Canada 112 United States 116 Republic of Ireland 120 8. Comparative Law 122 Part II : Statutory approaches to reform 122 Australia 122 (i) Federal provisions 122 Symposium 123 Judicial developments 124 iii Chapter Page Federal legislation on extrinsic aids 125 Application of section 15AB to prior legislation 128 Judicial interpretation 130 Weight 130 Taxing statutes 131 Confirming the ordinary meaning 131 Rights of the citizen 132 Recent judicial developments 133 Access to extrinsic materials 134 Practical implications 135 Practice directions 136 A judicial perspective 136 (ii) Victoria 138 (iii) New South Wales 141 Practice Note 143 (iv) Queensland 144 (v) South Australia 146 (vi) Northern Territory 147 (vii) Tasmania 148 (viii) Western Australia 149 (ix) Australian Capital Territory 150 Explanatory memoranda 150 Singapore 150 Conclusion 153 9. The Legislative Process 155 Introduction 155 The drafting process 155 General or specific intent 155 The language of the statute 157 The format of legislation 160 Preamble and objects clause 160 Explanatory memoranda 163 Specially prepared explanatory memoranda 164 The Parliamentary process 164 The United Kingdom 164 Hong Kong 167 Applicability of Pepper v Hart to Hong Kong 169 Status of government circulars 171 Subsidiary legislation 172 Access to Parliamentary materials 173 Australia 173 United Kingdom 175 Hong Kong 178 Conclusion 179 Practice Direction 179 iv Chapter Page 10. Collateral Matters 181 Introduction 181 The impact of the Bill of Rights on statutory interpretation 181 Sources of law in Hong Kong : pre-1997 and post-1997 189 Extrinsic aids post-1997 190 Precedent and stare decisis 191 Reports from foreign Law Commissions 194 Treaties 195 11. Conclusions and Recommendations 200 Introduction 200 Part I – Issues unresolved by Pepper v Hart or subsequent 200 Judicial developments First limb of Pepper v Hart 200 Second limb of Pepper v Hart 201 Impact on other extrinsic aids 203 Administrative practices 203 Third limb of Pepper v Hart – The statements relied on 204 must be clear Weight 204 Per incuriam decisions 205 Disadvantages of the criteria in Pepper v Hart 207 The rights of the citizen 207 Lawyers and Costs 208 The courts 209 Advantages of the criteria in Pepper v Hart 209 Part II – Recommendations 213 Statutory basis for extrinsic aids 213 Relaxation of the exclusionary rules 213 Extension of Pepper v Hart by legislation 214 Advantages 214 Disadvantages 215 Proposed Statutory Provisions 216 Section 15AB, Acts Interpretation Act 1901 216 Confirming the meaning: s 15 AB(1)(a) 217 Section 15AB(1)(b)(i) and (ii) 218 Listing extrinsic materials: s 15AB(2) 218 Matters not forming part of the Act: subsection 2(a) 219 Law reform reports : subsection 2(b) 219 Other common law reports 220 Reports of legislative committees: subsection 2(c) 220 Explanatory memoranda: subsection 2(e) 221 Second reading speech: subsection 2(f) 221 Relevant material in official record of debates: subsection 2(h) 221 Weight: s 15AB(3) 222 v Chapter Page Treaties 223 Subsidiary legislation 225 Application of section 15AB to prior legislation 225 Interaction between the legislation and the common law 226 The rights of the individual 228 Additional and non-statutory reform 229 Drafting 229 Specially prepared explanatory memoranda 230 Explanatory material 230 Accessibility 233 Practice Direction 233 Other extrinsic aids 234 Conclusion 234 12. Summary of Report on Extrinsic Materials as an aid to 236 Statutory Interpretation Part I 236 Introduction 236 What is the importance of statutory interpretation? 236 What are extrinsic aids to interpretation? 237 Background : constitutional theory 237 Parliamentary intention 238 Rules of construction 238 Purpose of extrinsic aids 239 Admissibility 239 Rationale of the courts in excluding extrinsic aids 240 Rationale of the courts in allowing extrinsic aids 240 Official reports 240 Purposive construction 241 Pepper v Hart 241 Arguments in favour of admissibility 242 Arguments against admissibility 243 Response 243 Impact of Pepper v Hart in Hong Kong 244 Draft Clauses 245 New Zealand 246 North America 246 Australia 247 Singapore 248 The drafting process 248 Sources of law post handover 1997 248 Part II 249 Recommendations 249 Per incuriam 249 Legislating for extrinsic aids 250 Advantages 250 vi Chapter Page Disadvantages 251 Federal Australian model 252 Confirming the meaning 252 List of extrinsic aids 253 Internal aids 253 Law Reform reports 253 Other common law reports 253 Reports of legislative committees 254 Explanatory materials 254 Second reading speech: subsection 2(f) 255 Any document declared by the ordinance 255 to be relevant: subsection 2(g) Relevant material in official record of 255 debates: subsection 2(h) Weight 255 Treaties 255 Application of section 15 AB to prior legislation 256 Interaction between the legislation and the common law 256 Rights of the individual 257 Non-statutory reform 257 Objects clause 257 Specially prepared explanatory memoranda 258 Explanatory material 258 Explanatory memorandum 259 Accessibility 261 Status of government circulars 261 Practice Direction 262 Other extrinsic aids 262 Conclusion 263 Annex 1 264 Section 15AB of the Australian Acts Interpretation Act 1901 264 (as amended) Annex 2 266 Draft proposed section 19A to be inserted into the Interpretation 266 and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap 1) vii Introduction ________________ Terms of reference 1. The request for a study of extrinsic aids to statutory interpretation arose from a discussion by the Law Reform Commission of a recommendation in the Sub-Committee Report on the Adoption of the UNCITRAL Model Law of Arbitration, that the Courts should be permitted to refer to the report of the Commission as an aid to interpretation.1 2. That request was made in May 1987.