A Statutory interpretation EXperience:
Putting the SEX into statutory
interpretation
Professor Des Butler (Australian Learning and Teaching Fellow)
James Duffy
Dr Elizabeth Dickson
Faculty of Law
Queensland University of Technology
CRICOS No. 00213J
Student thoughts about statutory interpretation
Statutory Interpretation is for many people a boring subject
Statutory Interpretation can be dry and boring when reading a textbook
It would [be] very difficult, for me, to have had to learn statutory interpretation
entirely theoretically.
LLB101 – Introduction to Law (lectures)
• Three lectures on legislation and statutory interpretation
– Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (Cth)
– Acts Interpretation Act 1954 (Qld)
– Intrinsic material
– Extrinsic material
– Syntactical presumptions
LLB101 – Introduction to Law (tutorials)
• Three tutorials on statutory interpretation
– Each week we provided students with a piece of legislation and a set
of facts
– Typical question: Advise X whether they have breached section 5 of
the Bore Students to Death Act 2013 (Qld).
– Tutorial questions get progressively trickier as the weeks progress
– Some questions involve real legislation, others involve fictional
legislation
LLB101 – Introduction to Law (tutorials)
• Regardless of how cool and edgy our questions were, student
engagement was still an issue.
Indigo’s Folly
‘Authentic voice’
Interview with Boddice J
Prologue video
Reclaiming the Patch
Bringing in the Crowds
Starting with a Bang
Rufus the Rat
Pigeon Problems
Bollywood Killjoys
Floor of Fire
Twisted Security
Traditional approach
‘Bringing in the Crowds’
Traditional approach
‘Rufus the Rat’
‘Bollywood Killjoys’
Student response (n= 184)
It helped me to engage with the skill of statutory
interpretation more than I think I usually would.
2%
It encouraged me to think about the skill of statutory
interpretation more than I think I usually would.
0%
13%
1%
24%
Strongly Agree
0%
11%
26%
Agree
Agree
Neutral
61%
Disagree
Neutral
62%
Disagree
Strongly disagree
It helped me to see the real world relevance of the skill of
statutory interpretation.
10%
59%
Strongly disagree
It helped me to understand the skill of statutory
interpretation in real world practice
2%
2% 0%
29%
Strongly Agree
Strongly Agree
10%
0%
18%
Strongly Agree
Agree
Agree
Neutral
Neutral
Disagree
Strongly disagree
70%
Disagree
Strongly disagree
Student response
It helped me gain a better understanding of statutory
interpretation in practice than I would have done from solely
text-based questions using different and unrelated short fact
scenarios.
Best Aspects of Indigo's Folly
5% 0%
Jess Astrild
10%
25%
Strongly Agree
Agree
Neutral
60%
Disagree
Strongly disagree
Music
Easy to access/flexible learning
Simulated legislation
Voice
Fun/entertaining
Multiple Choice Questions
Interactive
I enjoyed using Indigo’s Folly as part of my studies.
Storyline
Humour
Different from reading text
0%
13%
1%
Interesting/engaging
20%
The graphics/animations/videos
Strongly Agree
Agree
Neutral
66%
Disagree
Strongly disagree
Real life /real world
0
10
20
30
40
Student response
‘I realised the extent to which legislation impacts the lives and choices of
ordinary people. That helped to give a broader context to my studies. I
realised how important it is to master the skill of statutory interpretation.’
‘It was engaging. It was motivating. It was unlike any other tool I have used
to learn. The program allowed me to maintain interest in statutory
interpretation. The program also allowed me to really question and
understand statutory interpretation. The idea of an interactive program
allowed me to WANT to learn.’
‘It wasn't a ridiculously made-up story, it was something that we could
possibly be asked to advise on in the future. This made engaging in the
program easier and made statutory interpretation easier to recall, as I had a
real-life situation I could apply/relate rules to.’
‘I thought it was a great interactive way of learning. Statutory
Interpretation is for many people a boring subject but this module spiced it
up a bit. For the first time in a while, I actually enjoyed logging on and doing
the required work.’
‘[I] could pretend I wasn't really studying.’
Student response
Which of the following do you think best describes your
learning style?
I am not sure what
type of materials best
suit my learning.
6%
I learn best from a
combination of textbased and visual
78%
I learn best from textbased materials
7%
I learn best from
visual materials
9%