Thinking about Statutes: Interpretation, Interaction, Improvement

Andrew Burrows

doi:10.1017/9781108565981

We are in the age of statutes; and it is indisputable that statutes are swallowing up the common law. Yet the study of statutes as a coherent whole is rare. In these three lectures, given as the 2017 Hamlyn Lecture series, Professor Andrew Burrows takes on the challenge of thinking seriously and at a practical level about statutes in English law. In his characteristically lively and punchy style, he examines three central aspects which he labels interpretation, interaction and improvement. So how are statutes interpreted? Is statutory interpretation best understood as seeking to effect the intention of Parliament or is that an unhelpful fiction? Can the common law be developed by analogy to statutes? Do the judges have too much power in developing the common law and in interpreting statutes? How can our statutes be improved? These and many other questions are explored and answered in this accessible and thought-provoking analysis.

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Thinking about Statutes

Interpretation, Interaction, Improvement

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Contents

Thinking about Statutes
pp i-i

The Hamlyn Lectures 2017 - Series page
pp ii-ii

Thinking about Statutes - Title page
pp iii-iii

Copyright page
pp iv-iv

Contents
pp v-v

The Hamlyn Trust
pp vi-viii

The Hamlyn Lectures
pp ix-xiv

Preface and Acknowledgements
pp xv-xviii

Table of Cases
pp xix-xxv

Table of Statutes
pp xxvi-xxx

Lecture 1 - Statutory Interpretation
pp 1-44

Lecture 2 - The Interaction between Common Law and Statute
pp 45-87

Lecture 3 - Improving Statutes
pp 88-129

Index
pp 130-134

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Interpretation, Interaction, Improvement

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