Lord Upjohn, discussing the construction of a statute, said: ‘It is highly dangerous, if not impossible, to attempt to place an accurate definition upon a word in common use; you can look up examples of its many uses if you want to in the Oxford Dictionary but that does not help on definition; in fact it probably only shows that the word normally defies definition. The task of the court in construing statutory language such as that which is before your Lordships is to look at the mischief at which the Act is directed and then, in that light, to consider whether as a matter of common sense and every day usage the known, proved or admitted or properly referred facts of the particular case bring the case within the ordinary meaning of the words used by Parliament.’
Judges:
Lord Upjohn
Citations:
[1969] 1 WLR 1163, [1969] 3 All ER 85
Cited by:
Cited – Bauer and Others v The Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 22-Mar-2013
The appellants had entered Fortnum and Masons to demonstrate against tax avoidance. They appealed against convitions for aggravated trespass.
Held: The statutory question posed by s.68 is whether the prosecution can prove that the trespasser . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Litigation Practice
Updated: 11 May 2022; Ref: scu.472100