Five basic rules of interpretation of statutes pdf

The classic statement of the mischief rule is that given by. Although legislature makes the statute, it may be open to interpretation and have ambiguities. Interparliamentary union april 2017 statutes and rules texts valid as from april 2017 table of contents statutes of the interparliamentary union 1 rules of the assembly 12 rules of the governing council 21 rules of the executive committee 30 rules of the standing committees 36 rules of the forum of women parliamentarians 46 rules of the bureau of women parliamentarians 56. Some of the important rules of statutary interpretation are. One of the reasons for the dismal state of statutory. In santi swarup sarkar v pradeep kumar sarkar, the supreme court held that if two interpretations are possible of the same statute, the one which validates the statute must be. Basic rules of interpretation by law help bangladesh published august 25, 20 updated july 15, 2019 every law has its own history and own reasoning before it comes as a codified text before us, the intention of the lawmakers and their debate to draft the law also matters when you need to explain the law before the court.

These rules each take different approaches to interpretation of a statute. Rules seventh edition, james holland and julian webb, isbn 9780199557745. Interpretation of statutes is a craft rather than a science. One of the basic rules of interpretation of statute is grammatical interpretation. A statute, which is a bill or law passed by the legislature, imposes obligations and rules on the people. A guide to reading, interpreting and applying statutes. Statutory interpretation juridical understanding of legislation statutory interpretation deals with the body of rules and principles used to construct and justify the meaning of legislative provisions to be applied in practical situations.

Congress legislates with knowledge of our basic rules of statutory. Statute interpretation research by qaiser javed mian llb,llmu. Listing the canons of construction idaho state bar. The literal rule requires courts to interpret statutes in their plain, literal and ordinary sense. There is no hierarchy of rules to be applied and neither is any court bound to follow a particular rule. Interpretation of statutes is a question of law15, and therefore for a statute to be ambiguous, a.

As a basic rule the intention is to be determined by the words used or language. They are the tools that judges use to read meaning to provisions of the law in order to justify their decisions. In fact, much of the success of an attorneys argument in an appeal may hinge on the courts acceptance. Statutory interpretationhow judges read the statute laws of parliament role of the courtsrecall the courts have two main roles to resolve disputes, both criminal and civilto declare the law by creating new common law ex post facto and interpreting the meaning of statute law declaring the statute lawthere can be uncertainty and dispute about the. In construing statutes the cardinal rule is to construe its provisions literally and grammatically giving the words their ordinary and natural meaning. The statute as a whole, the previous state of the law, other statutes in pari materia, the general scope of the. On the interpretation of statutes internet archive. The first and most fundamental rule of legislative drafting is ordinary. To use paul finns expression, we were born to statutes. The primary language of the statute should always serve as the.

This approach to statutory interpretation is based upon various assumptions and a basic common sense approach to interpreting a statute. Cardinal rules for interpretation of taxing statutes. Note it is limited to enabled statutes only as law, that means no case law or common law is applicable. Despite this, there has been an inclusion of definition clause in most of the statutes so created, whether in the indian statutes or the statutes abroad. However, in many an acts, definition clause is inserted to mean a word or expression. There are certain general principles of interpretation which have been applied by courts from time to time. Statutory interpretation refers to the process by which a court looks at a statute and determines what it means. Discuss the rules of statutary interpretation with the.

A small sampling includes a small sampling includes abbe r. Buy interpretation of statutes book online at best prices in india on. Governmental power has been divided into three wings namely the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. Interpretation of statues to render justice is the primary function of the judiciary. Interpretation of statutes basic knowledge llb notes.

A director researchfaculty member punjab judicial academy the term statute is usually used as interchangeable with the term enactment. The rules of statutory interpretation 2 translegal. Interpretation of tax statutes core principles porus f kaka senior advocate. Sundaram iyyengar 1975 101 itr 764 sc if the language of the statute is clear and unambiguous, the court cannot discard. The final rule of statutory interpretation is the mischief rule, under which a judge attempts to determine the legislators intention. Interpretation of statutes is a very important issue which is not made easy due to varying factors. Literal rule aka plain meaning rule it means that statutes are to be interpreted using the ordinary meaning of the language of the statute unless a. Principles of interpretation foundational principle for a charge under tax statutes. At the outset, it must be clarified that, it is only when the intention of the legislature as expressed in the statute is not clear, that the court in interpreting it will have any need for the rules of interpretation of statutes. Interpretation thus is a familiar process of considerable significance. Primary rules of interpretation are discussed hereunder. The mischief rule is contained in heydons case 1584 3 co rep 7, where it was stated that for the true interpretation of all statutes four things are to be considered. This is also a very practical rule in the interpretation of taxing statutes and the charging section should be liberally construed while the procedure should have the widest possible ambit so as to ensure that no one has a.

Interpretation is the method by which the true sense or the meaning of the word is understood. Most of them have been collected in books on interpretation of statutes and the draftsman. The term enactment has been defined in subsection 17 of section3 definition clause of the general clauses act london. In relation to statute law, interpretation is of importance because of the inherent nature of legislation as a source of law. Srivastava, judge, delhi high court at new delhi words spoken or written are the means of communication. Interpretation act 33 of 1957 english text signed by the governorgeneral assented to. The interpretation of statutes is very essential to the administration of justice. Although rules of sentence structure and grammar are a legitimate consideration in this endeavor, ultimately our task is to interpret the statute not as a professor of english grammar. Interpretation is a process through which one arrives at the true and correct intention of the lawmaking body which is laid in the form of statutes. The word interpretation is derived from the latin term interpretari which means to explain or expound or to understand or translate.

T 1 literal rule of interpretation is one of the oldest methods of interpretation adopted by the judiciary. What follows next is step 5 of the legislative research checklist understanding the basic principles of statutory interpretation and how these principles can affect legal research. This then makes the interpretation of statutes not as simple as one would think. The rules behind statutory interpretation lawteacher. And then, there has been criticism made as to the utility of definition clause or the interpretation clause. Sullivan, the plain meaning rule and other ways to cheat at statutory. The subject of the interpretation of statues or acts is very wide. Chapter 1 introdution to interpretation of statutes 42,918 views. The rules of statutory interpretation are not rules in the strict sense, as each one may point to different solution to the same problem. Rules of interpretation of tax statutes p a g e 6 49 introduction 1. The meaning of an ordinary word of the english language is not a question of law. General principles and recent trends congressional research service summary the exercise of the judicial power of the united states often requires that courts construe statutes.

Most of them have been collected in books on interpretation of statutes and the draftsman would be well advised to keep these in mind in read more. The object of interpretation of statutes is to determine the intention of the legislature conveyed expressly or impliedly in the language used. Presumption affecting the jurisdiction of the court. One of them is that words do not usually have static meanings. The rules of statutory interpretation are rather crude labels for describing a complex. Over time, various methods of statutory interpretation and construction have fallen in and out of favor. Chapter 1 introdution to interpretation of statutes 1. Chapter 1 introdution to interpretation of statutes. For this rules which help to get the right interpretation of law are discussed below. Basic treaty principles treaty commitments must be. Listing the canons of construction by stephen adams1. Nevertheless, the high court of australia by its actual analysis, as shown in the above decisions, has indicated the current approach to statutory interpretation involving the use of text, context and purpose. The primary aim of this essay is to explain the reasons and application of rules of. They are purely guidelines for the judiciary to solve problems with statutory interpretation.

The paper is a critique of the golden rule of interpretation along with relevant case laws. Introduction the interpretation of laws is confined to courts of law. The courts have no power to vary the words of a statue by following. Therefore, the next source of interpretation for courts in pakistan is this act. The process of understanding expressions of the statute is called interpretation of statute. No tax can be imposed on the subject without words in the act clearly showing.

Following are the rules of the interpretation of statues. This article focuses on the rules to be kept in mind while using it. The rule of grammatical construction is considered to be the first principle of interpretation. Basic principles rules of interpretation of taxing statute. A basic understanding of theory is essential for a perspective on and understanding of legal interpretation. The legislature makes the laws while the judges of the law courts apply or interpret the laws. It is also known as literal or primary or natural or popular interpretation. Craies statute law and maxwell on the interpretation of statutes. Beside these sources, there are certain rules and principles of interpretation. Interpretation act s1 n 2 any laws, proclamations, ordinances, act of parliament, all by laws, rules, regulations or orders and 2 any other enactment having the force of law the interpretation acts definition if law. Rules of presumption and statutory interpretationinstructions 1 copyright sovereignty education and defense ministry, litigation tool 01. Rules of interpretation grammatical or literal rule of interpretation.

This is, however, only a presumption and parliament can choose to pass a statute with retrospective effect. Interpretation of statutes, or perhaps more precisely, the juridical understanding of legislation, deals with the body of rules and principles used to construct the correct meaning of legislative provisions to be applied in practical situations. It is aimed mainly at undergraduate students, but practitioners will also find it useful. This is the most widely used rule of interpretation in taxing statutes. Rules of statutory construction are those laid down at common law and those laid down by statute. An introduction for students is a userfriendly introduction to the basic principles of statutory interpretation.