Judicial interpretation of the law essay
For example, the English Bill of Rights referred to 'the crown and the royal dignity'. legal systems based on Roman law, dignity was viewed as a right to personality and status, and criminal and civil remedies were often provided if dignity in this sense was violated. In South Africa, for example, this has been recognized in the private, legal interpretation not only clarifies the law, where its content is questionable, but also justifies it through an appropriate integration of statutory rules and common law principles. The limits of parliamentary sovereignty are both conceptual and normative: they are inherent in the basic system of separation of powers. It is the basis of the doctrine of judicial precedent. All courts are obliged to follow the decisions made by the courts above them in the hierarchy. The courts of appeal are generally bound by their own past decisions. The House of Lords can override its own past decisions by using the Practice. In Pepper v Hart 1993, where Hansard was decided. 'Judicial activism' should not become 'judicial adventurism' and lead to a judge pursuing his own notions of justice, ignoring the limits of the law. The courts must be confident that they can give effect to constitutional policies such as equality, socio-economic justice, liberal interpretation and recognition of the rights of the individual, giving effect to judicial law-making that is the essence of common law . interpret laws and regulations by focusing on the text itself. Scalia then extends this principle to constitutional law. He suggests that we abandon the idea of an ever-changing Constitution and pay attention to the original meaning of the Constitution.