Pepper v Hart is a landmark decision in English law on the use of
legislative history in statutory interpretation. The House of Lords, by
a majority, established the principle that when primary legislation is
ambiguous then, under certain circumstances, a court may refer to
statements made in Parliament in an attempt to interpret the meaning of
the legislation. Before this ruling, such an action would have been seen
as a breach of parliamentary privilege. Lord Mackay (pictured),
dissenting, argued that Hansard should not be considered admissible
evidence due to the time and expense involved in a lawyer having to look
up every debate and discussion on a particular statute when giving legal
advice or preparing a case. The decision met a mixed reception. While
the judiciary were cautiously accepting, legal academics argued that it
violated rules of evidence, damaged the separation of powers between the
executive and Parliament and caused additional expense in cases. In
2000, a senior judge, Lord Steyn, delivered a lecture in which he
attacked the logic and legal theory behind the decision, and several
subsequent judicial decisions have considerably limited the use of
Pepper by the courts.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepper_v_Hart>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
627:
A Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeated Emperor
Khosrau II's Persian forces, commanded by General Rhahzadh, near
present-day Mosul, Iraq.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Nineveh_(627)>
1915:
President Yuan Shikai of the Republic of China reinstated the
monarchy and declared himself Emperor.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuan_Shikai>
1939:
The Royal Navy destroyer HMS Duchess was rammed by the
battleship HMS Barham she was escorting and sank with heavy loss of
life.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Duchess_(H64)>
1942:
World War II: German troops began Operation Winter Storm, an
attempt to relieve encircled Axis forces during the Battle of
Stalingrad.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Winter_Storm>
1964:
Jomo Kenyatta became the first President of the Republic of
Kenya.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jomo_Kenyatta>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
tin anniversary:
The tenth anniversary (yearly recurrence) of an event, especially a
wedding.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tin_anniversary>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
With reasonable men, I will reason; with humane men I will plead; but to
tyrants I will give no quarter, nor waste arguments where they will
certainly be lost.
--William Lloyd Garrison
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Lloyd_Garrison>
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