Figure 30.1 Meanings and Effects
Step 3: Reasons
Here we see which reasons or arguments for and against the various meanings
were and could have been considered by the court in reaching its decision.
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Arguments considered by the court will normally be stated in the judgments.
Once arguments are assembled and stated it is possible that the arguments
conflict. Different arguments may support different meanings or one argument
might support a particular meaning and another argument oppose
it. Faced
with this conflict the court has to weigh the arguments to decide which
meaning (or meanings) should prevail. According to our analysis of reasoning,
however, there is only one source of reasoning, namely policy; consequently
the best supported meaning is the meaning backed by the best policy.
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It is always possible that the court did not consider some relevant arguments
which can be used on a future occasion. Thus it is necessary to think if there
are arguments in this category. If there are, it is also necessary in Step 4:
Decision to consider how these arguments might affect the outcome of the
case on some future occasion if the decision of the court is reconsidered.
Step 4: Decision
The task of the court when interpreting the provision is to choose one meaning
(or several meanings) from the range of meanings of the ambiguous provision
as the legally correct meaning(s). This is why Step 2 entailed identifying every
possible meaning of the ambiguous provision – this meant that all options were
before the court thus ensuring that it was in a position to choose the best.
Therefore in this final step, Step 4, we see which meaning(s) the court chose.
It is also necessary to consider if there are other possible decisions that
a
court may make on a future occasion. These other decisions may be based on
arguments that the court did not consider or on a different appraisal of the
arguments that were before the court.
Understanding Past Cases
In analysing a decided case, the
task consists of identifying exactly what the
court decided and why it so decided. This is the ratio decidendi of the case.
Where the court has made a new common law rule or an amendment to an
existing rule it is necessary to identify the rule or the amendment. Where the
court has interpreted a statutory or common law rule it has decided and
declared that one meaning was the legally correct meaning of the ambiguous
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Chapters 12-15
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Christopher Enright Legal Reasoning 10-24
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