Stamp J said: ‘Sentences are not mere collections of words to be taken out of the sentence, defined separately by reference to the dictionary or decided cases, and then put back again into the sentence with the meaning which one has assigned to them as separate words, so as to give the sentence or phrase a meaning which as a sentence or phrase it cannot bear without distortion of the English language. That one must construe a word or phrase in a section of an Act of Parliament with all the assistance one can from decided cases and, if you will, from the dictionary, is not in doubt; but having obtained all that assistance, one must not at the end of the day distort that which has to be construed and give it a meaning which in its context one would not think it can possibly bear.’
Stamp J
[1967] 1 WLR 691
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Syed v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 13-Jan-2010
The defendant appealed by case stated against his conviction for assaulting a police officer in the execution of his duty. Three officers responded to a report of a disturbance and entered his house despite his struggle. The officers purported to . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Litigation Practice
Leading Case
Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.393393
