C--
and f a i r t h e r e c o u l d b e an e x p e d i t i o u s h e a r i n g by t h e C o u r t t h a t
t h e m a t t e r would be b r o u g h t b e f o r e t h e C o u r t a t p u b l i c c x p c n s c a n d
t h a t i t would b e d e a l t w i t h s p e e d i l y . "
The c a s e o f Pepper v. H a r t (1993) 1 ALL E R 4 2 H . L .
permits Courts
t o r e f e r t o t h e P a r l i a m e n t a r y d e b a t e s r e p o r t e d i n Hansard i n o r d e r
t o a s c e r t a i n t h e meaning o f a n Act o f P a r l i a m e n t .
F o u r t h l y , t o s a y t h a t i t i s o n l y when t h e i r r e g u l a r i t i e s
c-
a f f e c t the majority of t h e votes c a s t f o r t h c person declared t h c
w i n n e r , a n e l e c t i o n would be d e c l a r e d v o i d would d e f e a t t h e whole
p u r p o r t o f S e c t i o n 37 ( e ) o f t h e E l e c t i o n P e t i t i o n s (Amendment) A c t .
To p e r m i t s u b s t a n t i a l d i s t o r t i o n o r s u b v e r s i o n o f t h e p r o c e s s o f
f r e e and f a i r e l e c t i o n s by s i g n i f i c a n t i r r e g u l a r i t i e s which d i d n o t
a f f e c t t h e r e s u l t w i t h o u t r e s o r t t o v o i d a n c e would c o n t r a d i c t t h c
l o n g s t a n d i n g maxim o f s t a t u t o r y i n t e r p r e t a t i o n : u t r e s m a g i s v a l e a t
quam p e r e a t
<
-
t h e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of a s t a t u t e s h o u l d s e r v e t o f u r t h e r
i t s goal, not t o f r u s t r a t e it.
I n a p p l y i n g t h e p r i n c i p l e s deduced from t h e common law t o t h e
i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f t h e s t a t u t e and p a r t i c u l a r l y S e c t i o n 3 7 ( e ) I am
o f t h e view t h a t :
I t would be a r a t h e r s e r i o u s m a t t e r i f , a f t e r
an
election
h a s gone t h r o u g h t h e s t r e s s o f a c o n t e s t o f t h e k i n d c h a r a c t e r i z e d
by e l e c t i o n s i n J a m a i c a , ( t h a t )some t r i f l i n g i r r e g u l a r i t y o n t h e p a r t
o f an o f f i c e r which may be i n n o c e n t and which i n a l l p r o b a b i l i t y
(
1
h a s n o t t h e s l i g h t e s t e f f e c t upon t h e r e s u l t s h o u l d be h e l d t o undo
what h a s been done.
The i r r e g u l a r i t y t o a c h i e v e t h e e f f e c t o f v o i d a n c e must be
o n e t h a t would l e a d t o a s u b s t a n t i a l d i s t o r t i o n o r s u b v e r s i o n o f
t h e p r o c e s s o f f r e e and f a i r e l e c t i o n s .
To e s t a b l i s h t h i s g r o u n d
t h e e v i d e n c e need n o t a f f e c t t h e m a j o r i t y o b t a i n e d by t h e w i n n e r .