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Practical Statutory Interpretation: Bennion’s
NESSSI Method
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Doc. No. 2007.004 |
Note: This is version 1 of this document. An updated
version 2 is now available as 2008.014.
Bennion’s NESSSI Method
Modern legislative drafting in the United Kingdom
is logical and precise, though complicated. Francis Bennion, a former Westminster Parliamentary
Counsel (Government legislative draftsman) has devised NESSSI, which stands for New
Scientific System of Statutory Interpretation. This practical system is not new, but
presents a novel rationalization of the existing interpretative criteria. It is based
on the method set out in Bennion’s textbook Statutory Interpretation (LexisNexis
Butterworths, 5th edn, 2007). Designed for practitioners, it is also helpful to students.
NESSSI postulates
that a problem of statutory interpretation needs to be tackled step by step, scientifically.
The first step is always to find out and set down the exact
wording of a doubtful enactment, stripping it of unnecessary words. Then the opposing
constructions of the enactment which need to be put forward by either side are worked
out. The construction favoured by the client needs to be supported by all relevant
interpretative criteria. These consist of (1) rules of interpretation; (2) principles
derived from legal policy; (3) presumptions based on the nature of legislation; and
(4) linguistic canons of construction.)
Practical statutory interpretation is also described
in other books by Francis Bennion, namely STATUTE
LAW (Longman,
3rd edn 1990),
UNDERSTANDING COMMON LAW LEGISLATION,
(Oxford University Press, 2002),
and the Statutes title in the current version of Halsbury’s Laws of England (LexisNexisButterworths,
4th edition Reissue, 1995, vol. 44(1)).
Advice on court technique regarding statutory
interpretation is given in Appendix
A,
to Bennion’s Statutory Interpretation,
while a useful checklist is set out in Appendix
B,of
that work.
An example of NESSSI in action is given in Bennion’s article ‘The
Real IRA Is Proscribed After All’ in 168 JPN (4 September 2004) 694.
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