Interpretation

There was little recognisable authority that there could in some way be an implied term of a statute. So far as statute was concerned, statutes and statutory instruments were to be interpreted primarily from the words used on the basis that Parliament could or should be taken to have meant that the words which had been brought into law broadly meant what they say. Where it was unclear what Parliament meant, the courts could have regard to a purposive approach, along the lines of finding a meaning from the stated purposes and, in certain circumstances, regard could be had to the debates in Parliament to help determine what Parliament intended.