... the judiciary are able to use their own discretion when interpreting and can often go beyond their role as interpreters and inevitably legislate, often by amending a statute. In the United Kingdom there is a movement towards having a separation of powers, but these powers often overlap; in relation to judicial powers they can often be extended to the judiciary having legislative powers, thus damaging the impartiality and transparency of the judiciary. There are two approaches to statutory interpretation, which enable us to see the will of Parliament in the passing of an Act. Firstly the literal approach, which involves looking at the words in a statute in order to interpret its meaning. This rule therefore does not give the judiciary much flexibility, thus making them more likely to interpret rather than legislate. Whereas the Purposive approach suggests that judges should look beyond the actual wording of a piece of ...

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