South African Law: Statutory Interpretation Cases

The court's function is to ignore some words in the legislation.

The principle that a meaning should be assigned to every word is absolute.

Additions or subtractions from the words used in the legislation are allowed.

The law is static and never changes over time.

The ordinary meaning of the text when it was enacted is always given effect to.

The courts interpret the Act narrowly and do not consider new technologies.

Statutory bilingualism involves using only one official language.

In the event of inconsistencies, the original language of the legislation will prevail.

The court in Sigacu v Sigacu held that 'ordinary meaning' includes the literal grammatical meaning.

The Association of Amusement & Novelty Machine Operators v Minister of Justice case ruled that 'ordinary meaning' is equivalent to technical terms.

The Natal Joint Municipal Pension Fund v Endumeni Municipality case emphasized the importance of considering the language aspect as the primary point of departure.

The Savage v CIR Disclaimer case highlighted the importance of considering the background to the preparation and production of the document in interpretation.

The Pass and Prosper 45 case warned against the danger of elevating the literal meaning of a word to a fundamental principle of interpretation.

All words in legislation are considered redundant and can be omitted.

Repetition in legislation can be omitted in interpretation.

The principle that a meaning must be assigned to every word derives from the rule that words are to be understood according to their literal meaning.

Punctuation is not considered during interpretation.

The Subsidiarity Principle states that constitutional issues should be addressed first.

The Constitution is the supreme law and all law derives its force from it.

There are two separate systems of law, each with its own highest court.

Courts should always declare legislation unconstitutional if possible.

The legislature does not consider punctuation during the creation of laws.

The Subsidiarity Principle is only applicable in criminal cases.

Courts must always address constitutional issues first.

The constitutionality of the common-law presumption has already been tested.

Government agencies and organs of state should never be bound by their own legislation.

The new constitutional approach to statutory interpretation is also known as the literal approach.

The aim and purpose of the provisions are not considered in the new constitutional approach to statutory interpretation.

The values of the Constitution are weak and implicit.

The letter and the spirit of the Constitution can be separated.

The new constitutional approach to statutory interpretation ignores the values embodied in the Constitution.

The constitution is designed to be a flexible document.

The notion of an open and democratic society is merely aspirational or decorative.

The Constitutional values are used as a guideline when it suits.

Ubuntu is an indigenous African concept that refers to a practical humanist disposition towards the world.

The concept of an open and democratic society is based on freedom and inequality.

The values that suffuse the whole process are derived from the concept of an authoritarian society.

The final measure used for testing the legitimacy of impugned norms and conduct is the Constitution.

The Constitutional values are not considered when making decisions.

Ubuntu is an express provision in the new constitution.