A collection of latin maxims and phrases literally translated. This court has stated on many occasions that the task of statutory construction must begin with a consideration of the statutory text. When something is mentioned expressly in a statute it leads to the. The case in which the rule of law is established is called a precedent. And rules of construction sometimes affect the meaning of what parties say both because acts of judicial construction can. Statutory construction latin maxims statutory interpretation. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Contemporary significance of legal maxims in statutory. In other words, folks, if you need a lawyer, get a lawyer. The maxims are arranged by term, with the most recent 1998 term first. 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. The books situate rules of interpretation in the context of interpretive theory and. If a person is complying with all relevant conversational maxims, then that. That is proved in vain which when proved is not relevant.
Full text of a collection of latin maxims and phrases literally translated. Craies statute law and maxwell on the interpretation of statutes. Statutory construction latin maxims with digested cases. By contrast, if a statute is ambiguous, we must engage in a more elaborate statutory construction process, in which process we very frequently employ the canons of statutory construction. The maxims are 291 pages long, so attempting to print them will tie up your printer for an extended time. In those cases, the law presents an arsenal of maxims and rules. Stare decisis judicial function holds that once a principle of law is established for a particular legal situation, courts should adhere to that principle in similar cases in the future.
Lfa all lecture summary laws75105 legal foundations a. Buy concise law dictionary with legal maxims, latin terms and. A collection of latin maxims and phrases literally. A principle of law universally admitted, as being just and consonant with reason. The latin term, apparently a variant on maxima, is not to be found in roman law with any meaning exactly analogous to that of a legal maxim in the medieval or modern sense of the.
The role of pragmatics in statutory interpretation digital. Selected from the most eminent authors, on the civil, canon, feudal, english and scots law. Maxims of law freedom from government official website. This volume provides a new critical text of the prologue and the first two books of venantius fortunatus vita sancti martini, a work, written in the latter half of the sixth century, which paraphrases in epic verse the famous prose hagiography of st martin by sulpicius severus. Maximswhichprecedesthetext,ihavenowinsertednotonlysuch asareactually citedin the body ofthe work, but such also from amongst thosewith which i havebecome acquainted,as seem to be. Lecture 1 law of succession will and testament intestacy. This article needs additional citations for verification. Sometimes the words of a statute have a plain and straightforward meaning. But in most cases, there is some ambiguity or vagueness in the. The phrases are followed by a very short description of cases that illustrate the latin rule. Professor graham discussed the maxims or rules of statutory construction. Expressio unius est exclusio alterius is a latin phrase that means express mention of one thing excludes all others.
Statutory interpretation is the act or process of interpreting and applying legislation. If instead of legal maxims you need more general latin expressions, i have special pages dedicated to mottos, sayings, quotes, slogans etc. Plainmeaning rule and statutory interpretation in the jstor. Interpretation of statutes and of contracts dictionary written words often lend themselves to several interpretations leaving a court to sort out the maze in order to determine legal rights this area of the law is also known as construction of statutes.
Introduction legal maxims have fallen down in the present setting of the legal environment. Statutory interpretation is the process by which courts interpret and apply legislation. The ejusdem generis or eiusdem generis, latin for of the same kind rule. The attachment is a compilation of case from ateneo law 2011. The statutory text must be considered in its context. This was inevitable as the amount of law made by, or under, legislation increased and the room for the residual common.
While the phrase statutory interpretation tends to conjure up images of dusty legal tomes with little. The interpretation and construction put upon different terms by the. Bennion statutelaw, 1990, has identified a number of factors that may cause doubt 1. Pdf pragmatic maxims and presumptions in legal interpretation. This report describes some maxims derived from recent theory in learning and instruction and from reflection on excellent practice. While a broad interpretation of the excise tax, a tax base not available to state. All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common.
Based on joseph sabins famed bibliography, bibliotheca americana, sabin americana, 15001926 contains a collection of books, pamphlets, serials and other works about. Quantity 1 make your contribution as informative as is required for the current purposes of the exchange. A secondary purpose of this book is to demonstrate the current relevance of statutory construction. The definitions are taken from agpalos book on statutory construction. Assessment project 1 drafting a will project 2 probate class. Constitutional principles and coherence in statutory. A guide to reading, interpreting and applying statutes. A constitution is often defined as the whole body of rules, written and unwritten, legal and extralegal, which describe a government and its operation. This is also referred to as statutory construction. This is a partial list of these legal latin terms, which are wholly or substantially drawn. In his recent book on statutory interpretation professor reed dickerson con cludes that. A number of latin terms are used in legal terminology and legal maxims. While very symmetrical for the mgm logo, the better latin word order is ars artis gratia.
One of the socalled maxims of statutory interpretation is expressio unius est exclusio alterius. Publilius syrus 1st century bc, latin writer of maxims. Under the principles of statutory construction, if a statute is clear, plain and free from ambiguity, it must be given its literal meaning and applied without attempted interpretation. Interpretation of statutes and of contracts dictionary. Buy concise law dictionary with legal maxims, latin terms and words. Although the doctrine is useful in determining the extents of contracts, it is also an important principle in the construction of statutes. Yet these maxims, standing alone and taken as absolute statements, are liable to gross misuse. The hon michael kirby ac cmg statutory interpretation has replaced the analysis of judicial reasons about the common law as the most important task ordinarily performed by australian lawyers. Here are the list of latin maxims used in the cases.
Lecture 1 intro and succession basic structure of a will. In semanticspragmatics, the gricean maxims are communicative principles that were proposed by h. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership. Statutory interpretation lecture notes law teacher. Vlegal latin phrases and maximsa legal maxim is an established principle or proposition. The secondary aim of this essay is to examine the quote that they are rather crude labels for describing a complex mechanism, i.
According to the plurality, those latin maxims change the english meaning of tangible object to only things, like records and documents, used. Collection of us supreme court legal maxims, compiled by. The primary aim of this essay is to explain the reasons and application of rules of statutory interpretation. While ancient courts regarded maxims as shining beacons of clarity in an otherwise dark legal world, the maxims of statutory construction seems to. Applying these maxims of statutory construction, i conclude.
Full text of a collection of latin maxims and phrases. The maxims are explained and illustrated using examples from a successful literacy training program, reading recovery. Literal construction in construing a statutory provision the first and the foremost rule of construction is that of literal construction. Noscitur a sociis words must be construed in conjunction with the other words and phrases used in the text. Latin maxims a to z latin maxims have a healthy dose of your latin legal maxims. In her book on the topic, jurist ruth sullivan wrote. This phrasing is a direct transliteration of art for the sake of art. He distinguished four categories, with several submaxims grice 1975. References to relevant statutes and judicial pronouncements to illustrate the.
Intended for the use of students for all legal examinations. Latin maxims articulate the principled foundations on which the law is built. The books situate rules of interpretation in the context of interpretive theory. Dictum in legal terminology, dictum plural dicta is a statement of opinion or belief considered authoritative because of the dignity of the person making it, although it is not binding as law. It is the principles developed by courts for interpreting statutes. Since so many credits are in question and aakanksha and yegana have covered quite a few of the legal maxims used commonly already, so apart from legal maxims, ill also include terms that make legalese legalese. In rodaro, justice, at 856, defined the latin maxim expressio unius est exclusio alterius as follows. All that the court has to see at the very outset is, what does the provision. Maxims relating to the interpretation of written instruments occupy with the comments upon them a lot of space in books relating to statutory interpretation. Most of them are, at the utmost, only prima facie rules. Some special considerations generalia specialibus nonderoganta recast. The dictionary of latin law terms contains a subset of terms and phrases from the law dictionary. The phrase indicates that items not on the list are assumed not to be covered by the statute. Intended for the use of students for all legal examinations by cotterell.
Of course, if you happen to be a lawyer, here is your chance to breathe some life into your latin. But there is a more restricted idea equally deserving of a name the idea of a constitution as a. As to the issue of who has the better right over the sss death benefits, section 8e and k of r. C84 19 a collection of latin maxims and phrases 3 1924 021 688 670 cornell university library bought with the income of the. That context includes legislative history and extrinsic materials. Professional aphorist james geary shares his list of mustread books from authors covering proverbs, aphorisms, and the art of being quoted. Part of the legal writing and research commons, and the legislation commons. This is a permissible and indeed a highly convenient usage. Statutory interpretation news newspapers books scholar jstor march 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message. A range of constitutional and doctrinal factors guide the judicial interpretation of taxation law in australia. Glossary of legal latin a fortiori from stronger argument used to express a conclusion for which there is stronger evidence than for a previously accepted one ab initio from the beginning if a contract is void say for mistake ab initio, this has the consequence that no. This is one of the rules used in interpretation of statutes.
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