ABSTRACT
The courts are the masters;1 they determine what an Act of Parliament says. Departmental officials may, in the implementation of an Act, give whatever meaning they consider appropriate to a particular piece of legislation. The layman will act according to that layman’s understanding of the law. Lawyers will give their opinions as to what the law is. Advocates may try to misunderstand the law. Others either in good faith or bad faith will criticise the art of Parliamentary Counsel. Nobody is the wiser. But if there is a challenge, all must bow before the masters in the interpretation of the law. In this task the courts have evolved their own rules to guide them.
