The task of statutory interpretation isn’t primarily a linguistic one. It’s a legal one. References to ordinary meaning are to ordinary meaning of the words in their correct legal context. That legal context includes findings of fact in caselaw that conclude that sex is binary and immutable. - ThreadSky

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michaelpforan.bsky.social • 100 days ago

The task of statutory interpretation isn’t primarily a linguistic one. It’s a legal one. References to ordinary meaning are to ordinary meaning of the words in their correct legal context. That legal context includes findings of fact in caselaw that conclude that sex is binary and immutable.

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michaelpforan.bsky.social•100 days ago

If for example we had a stable doctrine that in English law the point of death is fixed at cardiovascular death rather than brain death, a reference to the death of a person in a statute would track that even if ordinary usage might vary within the community.

michaelpforan.bsky.social•100 days ago

The task of a judge interpreting statute is by default to find the ordinary meaning of the words in their legal context. That’s not an empirical task involving surveys of the general population. It’s a legal enterprise not an empirical one.

robertmullins.bsky.social•100 days ago

Thanks. I understand you better now. So the argument hinges on whether there is a plain and ordinary meaning in contemporary legal contexts.

michaelpforan.bsky.social•100 days ago

Well no. Because we have caselaw which has already interpreted these terms. Sex has a statutory definition of whether you’re a man or a woman then man and woman are defined as male or female of any age. Green v SoS for Justice & For Women Scotland affirm that male and female take on …

michaelpforan.bsky.social•100 days ago

… the common law meaning unequivocally for anyone who does not have a gender recognition certificate. There is then a question about whether a certificate changes one’s sex for anti-discrimination law.

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