You are not alone

I’m pleased to report another development in my LLB quest – the first faint signs of camaraderie. Through one of the ‘social networking’ sites on the internet, I’ve managed to find a fledgling group of students who are studying in the same manner and at the same school. I’ve read various things about study groups to be honest, most of which seem to say that it is best when they are a small group of committed individuals. While I am sure they do have value, I guess the trick is to have them move beyond friendship to be of assistance in your studies. For sure I look forward to meeting others and knowing that I am not “alone” but it will be great to learn about various study aids, have others to exchange ideas with and also to review and critique essays. Hopefully it will go well and stand the test of time. In any event, I am quite excited about it and look forward to contributing and getting out of it as much as I can!

In other news, I’ve moved on in Zander’s Law Making Process. Now I am reading about various methods of statutory interpretation. I’ll be honest and say I like this section a bit more than those about the formulation of laws in Whitehall and Parliament. It is enjoyable to read some of the cases and see how they are interpreted by judges. I confess that when I first heard about the literal approach to interpretation it struck me as a bit far-fetched but after reading through some of the chapter, I can see the arguments in its favor. For example, it’s interesting to read the response from the House of Lords on Lord Denning’s proposition that the judiciary must “fill in the gaps” left by Parliament. Hopefully the book will continue more along these lines in the coming chapters.