11 January 2013
Industry-Wide Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme Co-ordinator Ltd v Industry-Wide Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme Trustees Ltd and another [2012] EWHC 3712 (Ch), [2012] All ER (D) 217 (Dec)
It was settled law that, before interpreting a statute by adding, omitting or substituting words, a court had to be abundantly sure of three matters: (i) the intended purpose of the statute or provision in question; (ii) that, by inadvertence, the draftsman and Parliament had failed to give effect to that purpose in the provision in question; and (iii) the substance of the provision Parliament would have made, although not necessarily the precise words Parliament would have used, had the error in the Bill been noticed.
