Rules of construction or statutory construction is the process of determining how the provisions of the general law relate to a specific legal case, and distinguishes the rules of statutory interpretation from other rules or aids for the interpretation of law in common law jurisdictions.

Rules of construction has also been defined as "the drawing in inference by the act of reason, as to the intent of an instrument, from given circumstances, upon principles deduced from men's general motives, conduct and action". ^*

The following rules are not binding and are better seen as different methods of approaching the interpretation of statutes.

Meaning

The judiciary interprets how legislation should apply in a particular case as no legislation unambiguously and specifically addresses all matters. Legislation may contain uncertainties for a variety of reasons:

• Words are imperfect symbols to communicate intent. They are ambiguous and change in meaning over time.
• Unforeseen situations are inevitable, and new technologies and cultures make application of existing laws difficult.
• Uncertainties may be added to the statute in the course of enactment, such as the need for compromise or catering to special interest groups.

Therefore, the court must try to determine how a statute should be enforced. This requires statutory construction. It is a tenet of statutory construction that the legislature is supreme (assuming constitutionality) when creating law and that the court is merely an interpreter of the law. In practice, by performing the construction the court can make sweeping changes in the function of the law.

Presumptions

Some common presumptions when interpreting statutes are the following:

• The legislature intended to use ordinary English words in their ordinary senses.
• The legislature intended the statute to be prospective.
• The legislature did not intend an absurd or manifestly unjust result.
• Ore Tenus; Whatever the judge concludes, he made a factually correct decision. Similarly, for a jury trial, that the jury came to a correct decision regarding issues of fact.

Rules of construction methods

Over time, various methods of statutory construction have fallen in and out of favor. Some of the better known rules of construction methods are:

• The Golden rule (law), or the British Rule, currently in favor in England today
• The Plain meaning rule
• The Social purpose rule
• The Mischief rule
• The Purposive approach

Authorities

The multi-volume Sutherland Statutory Construction is the authoritative text on the rules of statutory construction. In the United States, the decision of United States of America v. William C. Scrimgeour (1981) 636 F.2d 1019 discusses most aspects of statutory construction.

See also

• Canons of statutory construction (U.S. law)
• Judicial activism

Common law