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It is beyond doubt that the court may look at the purpose and history of the relevant legislation and to this end reference may be made to the state of the law, and to the material facts and events with which it is apparent that Parliament was dealing¹. Reports of commissioners, including law commissioners, and white papers can be looked at for the purpose of ascertaining the mischief which the statute is intended to cure². Parliamentary debates are also admissible to ascertain the intention behind a statute³.

Further, it was held by the House of Lords in Pepper v Hart⁴, reversing previous decisions on the point, that the court can look at parliamentary materials as an aid to interpreting legislation where the legislation is ambiguous, or leads to an absurdity, the material relied on consists of one or more statements by a minister or other promoter of the Bill together if necessary with such other Parliamentary material as is necessary to understand