10 CONSTRUCTION LAW AND THE LEGAL SYSTEM

example of this process was s. l of the Arbitration Act 1979 which, as

drafted, appeared to be intended to facilitate appeals. The House of
Lords, however, interpreted the section in The Nema" as restricting the
right of appeal to exceptional cases. This piece of judicial interpretation
or development is now codified in the Arbitration Act 1996 (sec Ch.3).
In the interpretation of statutory material the courts are not limited to
'-
the words of the statute itself. In Pepper v Hart , the House of Lords
confirmed that parliamentary debates and ministerial statements could
be considered in order to determine the intention of the legislature, and
recourse will often be had to the previous law to identify the “ mischief '
which the Act was intended to cure.13

Delegated legislation

In addition to statute law proper there has, particularly during the

twentieth century, grown up a great body of delegated or sub-legislation.
This is written not by Parliament itself, but by some other body or official
-
to whom Parliament has given authority. The sub legislators range from
ministers of the government to statutory bodies such as local authorities.
This delegated legislation goes under such names as rules, regulations or
by-laws. It takes effect as though it were contained in the parent Act,
which sets out the delegated power. As examples, the Building Act 1984
contains authority under which the Building Regulations arc made; and
the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act empowers the
Minister to issue the Scheme for Construction Contracts. A great deal of
day-to-day activity in industry generally and the construction industry in
particular is covered by delegated legislation. In general this lays down
more stringent and specific duties than those which are to be found in the
common law.

Equity

In the division between common law and equity, each branch comprises
both judge- made law ( found in case reports) and statute law. The differ¬
ence arises because before 1873, when the systems began to be jointly
administered , there were two separate legal systems which operated
in different courts. Equity was applied in the old Court of Chancery,
located in Lincoln's Inn. Charles Dickens found much to criticise in the
courts of early nineteenth century England but reserved the most biting

BTP Tioxide v Pioneer Shipping [ 1982] A .C. 724.

[ 1993] A.C. 593.
Heydons Case ( 1584) 3 Co. Rep 7a .