INTERPRETATION OF STATUTES

DR. NILESH RODE

B.A.M.S, C.C.H, C.G.O, Diploma in Dialysis Technologist,

MBA – HCS, PGD – CRM & RA, LL.B, LL. M (Criminology)

1. Executive

2. Legislatre

3. Judiciary
1. Presidential form of government

Eg USA

2. Parliamentary form of government

Eg India and UK
1. The word 'statute' is derived from the Latin word

'statutum', which means 'law', 'decree'.

2. An act of the legislature; a particular law enacted and

established by the will of the legislative department of

government, expressed with the requisite formalities.

3. A Statute is a formal expression in writing of the will of

the legislature in a State.

BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY:

“A Statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative

authority that governs a country, state, city. Typically statutes

command or prohibit something or declare policy. The word is

often used to distinguish law made by legislative bodies from

the judicial decisions of the common law and the regulations

issued by Government agencies.“

C.K. Alien:

A Statute is the highest constitutional formulation of

law, the means by which the Supreme Legislature, after

the fullest deliberation expresses its final will.

Southerland:

A Statute in fact is an instrument of modern societies,

expressing a relationship between the individual and

the State.
1. THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA

2. STATUTORY LAW

3. DELEGATED LEGISLATION

4. ADMINISTRATIVE INSTRUCTIONS.
BILL BECOMES AN ACT
1. TITLE

2. PREAMBLE

3. ENACTING CLAUSE

4. BODY

5. REPEALING CLAUSE

6. SAVING CLAUSE

7. SEPARABILITY CLAUSE

8. EFFECTIVITY CLAUSE
1. GENERAL LAW

2. SPECIAL LAW

3. LOCAL LAW

4. PUBLIC LAW

5. PRIVATE LAW

6. PENAL STATUTE

7. PROSPECTIVE AND RETROSPECTIVE STATUTES

1. Temporary Statute:

Eg Covid Period

2. Permanent or Perpectual Statute:

eg. The Companies Act 1956 has been repealed and

replaced by new Act The Companies Act 2013.

3. Mandatory/ Imperative or Obligatory Statute:

Statute compels to do certain things and strict

compliance is mandatory
4. Directory or Permissive Statute:

Eg. Model bye-laws of CHS

5. Codifying Statute: A law that codifies unwritten law.

6. Consolidating Statute: Law that consolidates all previous

law in it. Eg Comapanies Act 2013

7. Declaratory Statute: Law which provides the explanation

relating to an existng law eg. General Clauses Act, 1897,

Income Tax (Amendment) Act, 1985

8. Remedial Statute: Law which provides remedy to an

aggrieved party. Eg. Maternity Benefit Act, 1961

9. Enabling Statute: Law which permits to perform any act.

10. Disabling Statute: Law which restricts to perform any

act.

11. Penal Statute: Law that provides punishments for any

misconduct.
12. Explanatory Statutes: To remove the ambiguity and to make it

clear the meanings and purpose of the expressions used in the statute

one more Act/ Statute is passed for the purpose of explaining the

ambiguous words/ expressions used in the earlier statute.

13. Amending Statute: To bring about appropriate or necessary

changes by passing fresh Acts/ Statutes called Amendment

Acts/Amending Statutes.

14. Repealing Statute: A repealing statute is one which repeals or

replaces an earlier statutes.

• The term has been derived from the Latin term “interpretari”

which means to explain, expound, understand or to

translate.

• Interpretation is the process of explaining, expounding and

translating any text or anything in written form.

• Interpretation of statutes is the correct understanding of the

law.

• This process is commonly adopted by the courts for

determining the exact intention of the legislature.

• Salmond:

Interpretation” is the process by which the court seeks to

ascertain the meaning of the legislature through the

medium of authoritative forms in which it is expressed.

• Cooley & Crawford:

Interpretation is the art of finding out the true sense of

words.
• Grey:

The process by which a judge constructs from the

words of a statute book, a meaning which he either

believes to be that of the legislature or which he

proposes to attribute to it, is called Interpretation.

• Statutory Interpretation is the process of interpreting

and applying legislation to decide cases.

• Statutory Interpretation means explanation, meaning,

translation or interpretation of statutes or enacted law.

• Interpretation is necessary when case involves subtle or

ambiguous aspects of a statute.

• Thus, the ambiguity and vagueness in the words of the

statute must be resolved by the judge while interpreting

the Statute.
In case of Seaford Court Estates Ltd. V/s Asher,

stated that “English Language is not as perfect as

mathematics” hence it becomes necessary to

interpret the law correctly in order to get the

remedy.
The primary object of statutory interpretation is to

ascertain and give effect to the intention of the

legislature.

This involves understanding the purpose and

objectives behind the enactment of a statute.

1. The complicated process of drafting laws leads to a variety
of gaps and ambiguity in the statute.

2. The words, phrases, terms used in the statute can have

varying meanings due to the multifaceted nature of the
language.

3. A law is never drafted by a single person but rather by a

group of people, this leads to incoherence in the language.

4. Some statues use technical language because of their

complicated subject matter.

5. The applicability of law changes with new developments.

Interpretation of Statute is done by the judiciary to avoid:

1. Uncertainity

2. Friction

3. Hardship

4. Inconvenience

5. Injustice

6. Absurdity

7. Anomaly

8. Inconsistency and

9. Repugnancy
1. Court must start with the presumption that the legislature

did not make a mistake.

2. Court must adopt a construction which will carry out the

obvious intention of the legislation.

3. If there is a defect or an omission in the words used by the

legislature the court would not add words to a statute or

read words into it which are not there especially when the

literal reading produces an intelligible result.

1. LEGISLATIVE LANGUAGE:

Legislative language may be complicated for a layman.

2. LEGISLATIVE INTENT:

Intention of legislature intent assimilates two aspects:

a. The concept of “meaning” (what the word means)

b. Concept of “purpose and object” or the “reason” or

“spirit” pervading through the Statute.

1. First debate when the Supreme Court first asserted its power of

judicial review.

2. It established that Supreme Court would be the sole interpreter

of the Constitution and also laid down several important ground

rules or assumptions for later theories.

3. Assumptions…..

4. Other Case-Laws:

A. K. Gopalan vs. State of Madras

Keshavananda Bharati vs. State of Kerala

1. The act of constructing, the way in which something is

constructed, manner or method of building.

2. Interpretation is the art of finding out the true sense of any form

or words i.e. the sense which the author intended to convey and

of enabling others to derive from them the same idea which the

author intended to convey.

3. Construction is the drawing of conclusions, respecting subject

that lie beyond the direct expression of the text from elements

known from and given in the text conclusions which are in the

spirit through not within the letter of the law.

1. Strict Construction:

Narrows the operation and effect of the enactment

eg. Statute imposing penalty and tax should be

interpreted strictly.

2. Liberal Construction:

Broadens the operation of the enactment.

Textual Construction: This involves reading the
text of the statute in its full context, including
considering the structure and the rest of the
statute.

Contextual Construction: This requires looking

beyond the statute's text and considering the
broader legal context, including the history and
purpose of the law.
Presumptive Construction: This approach
involves the application of certain established legal
presumptions to help understand the law, such as
a presumption against retrospective operation or
against violation of international law.

Consequential Construction: This approach takes

into account the possible practical consequences or
effects of different interpretations.
 INTERPRETATION CONSTRUCTION
About finding out the true meaning About inferring implications
of the words

Mainly based on the text of the law Takes into account the broader legal
context

Gives literal meaning to the words Gives effect to the intent of the law

Does not modify or alter the Can extend or narrow the meaning
meaning of law of the law

Used when the language of the law Used when the language of the law
is clear is ambiguous or vague

Limited by the letter of the law Extended by the spirit of the law
 INTERPRETATION CONSTRUCTION

Common techniques Literal Common techniques: Textual

Interpretation, Mishief rule, Golden Construction, Contextual
rule, Purposeful Interpretation Construction, Presumptive
Construction, Consequential
Construction

Less room for personal bias More room for personal bias

Can be mechanical and rigid Allows for flexibility and

adaptability

More common in civil law systems More common in common law

1. Statutes Origin – Statutum

Believed to be first used by Henry III

2. Simple meaning

A written law passed by a legislative body

A law made by a soverign

3. Bouvier’s Law Dictionary

A statute is “A law established by the act of the legislative power i.e. an act of the

legislature. The term Statute is generally applied to laws and reulations of every sort of

law which ordains, permits or prohibits anything which is designated as a statute, without

considering from what source it arises”

Maxwell – The will of the legislature.

In India we use Laws instead of Statutes.