AIDS IN STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION AND INTERPRETATION OF LAWS

Intrinsic Aids
The term intrinsic means internal or within. Intrinsic aids, therefore, are those aids within the statute.
Intrinsic aids are resorted to only if there is ambiguity. In resorting to intrinsic aids, one must go back
to the parts of the statute: the title, the preamble, context or body, chapter and section headings,
punctuation, and interpretation.

1. Context or text of statute

Legislative intent should accordingly be ascertained from a consideration of the whole context of the
statute and not from an isolated part or particular provision. The context may circumscribe the
meaning of a statute; it may give to a word or phrase a meaning different from its usual or ordinary
signification. In such a case, the meaning dictated by the context prevails.

2. Explanatory notes
An explanatory note is a short exposition or explanation accompanying a proposed legislation by its
author or proponent. It contains statements of the reason or purpose of the bill, as well as argument
advanced by its author in arguing its passage.
When there is ambiguity in a statute or where a statute is susceptible of more than one interpretation,
courts may resort to the explanatory note to clarify the ambiguity and ascertain the purpose or intent
of the statute. The statute may then be so construed as to give effect to the purpose or intent as
disclosed in its explanatory note.

2. Long title
The title of a statute serves as aid, in case of doubt in the language, to its construction and to
ascertaining legislative will. Where the meaning of a statute is obscure, courts may resort to its title to
clear the obscurity. The title may indicate the legislative intent to extend or restrict the scope of law,
and a statute couched in a language of doubtful import will be construed to conform to the legislative
intent as disclosed in its title. The title can be resorted to as an aid where there is doubt as to the
meaning of the law or as to the intention of the legislature in enacting it, and not otherwise.
It became established in the nineteenth century that the long title could be considered as an aid to
interpretation. The long title should be read as part of the context, "as the plainest of all the guides to
the general objectives of a statute.

4. Preamble
A preamble is that part of the statute written immediately after its title, which states the purpose,
reason or justification for the enactment of law. It is usually expressed in the form of Whereas
clauses.
The intent of the law as culled from its preamble and from the situation, circumstances and conditions
it sought to remedy, must be enforced. Preamble used as a guide in determining the intent of the
lawmaker.

5. Short title
There is some question whether the short title should be used to resolve doubt.

6. Section Headings
Headnotes, headings or epigraphs of sections of a statute are convenient index to the context of its
provisions. They are prefixed to sections or chapter of a statute for ready reference or classification.
In case of doubt or ambiguity in the meaning of the law or intention of the legislature, they may be
consulted in aid of interpretation.

7. Punctuation
Punctuations such as a comma, a semi-colon, and a period are grammatical marks. It is a rule of
legal hermeneutics that punctuation marks are aids of low degree and can never control against the
intelligible meaning of written words.
* semi-colon used to indicate a separation in the relation of the thought and what follows a semicolon must have a relation to the same matter which precedes it.
* comma & semi-colon both used for the same purpose, namely, to divide sentences and parts of
sentences
8. Capitalization of letter
Capitalization of letters is an aid of low degree in the construction of statute.
9. Definition sections and interpretation clauses

B. Extrinsic Aids
1. Applicability of extrinsic aids
These are existing aids from outside sources, meaning outside of the four corners of the statute. If
there is any doubt as to the meaning of the statute, the interpreter must first find that out within the
statute.
Extrinsic aids therefore are resorted to after exhausting all the available intrinsic aids and still there
remain some ambiguity in the statute.
Extrinsic aids resorted to by the courts are:
History of the enactment of the statute;
Opinions and rulings of officials of the government called upon to execute or implement
administrative laws;
Contemporaneous construction by executive officers charged with implementing and enforcing the
provisions of the statutes unless such interpretation is clearly erroneous;
Actual proceedings of the legislative body;
Individual statements by members of congress; and
The author of the law
Other sources of extrinsic aids are:
Reports and recommendations of legislative committees;
Public policy;
Judicial construction; and
Construction by the bar

It is a well-accepted principle that where a statute is ambiguous, courts may examine both the printed
pages of the published Act as well as those extrinsic matters that may aid in construing the meaning
of the statute, such as the history of its enactment, the reasons of the passage of the bill and
purposes to be accomplished by the measure.

2. Dictionaries
Dictionaries generally define words in their natural, plain and ordinary acceptance and significance.
Where the law does not define the words used in a statute and the legislature has not intended a
technical or special meaning to those words, the Court may adopt the ordinary meaning of the words
as defined in the dictionaries.

3. Legislative History
It is a well-settled rule of statutory construction that where a statute is susceptible of several
interpretations or where there is ambiguity in its language, there is no better means of ascertaining
the will and intention of the legislature than that which is afforded by the history of the statute.
Generally speaking, the history of a statute refers to all its antecedents from its inception until its
enactment into law. Its history proper covers the period and the steps done from the time the bill is
introduced until it is finally passed by the legislature.

4. Treaties and international conventions

Apart from these external aids, courts also take recourse to other material. For example, wherever
necessary, court can look into International Conventions.
The Human Rights Act 1997 provides a new canon of statutory interpretation that Acts are, where
possible, to be interpreted so as to comply with the European Convention on Human Rights.

5. Legislative debates and deliberations

Courts may avail themselves of the actual proceedings of the legislative body to assist in determining
the construction of a statute of doubtful meaning. They may resort to the legislative deliberation in the
legislature on a bill which eventually was enacted into law to ascertain the meaning of its provisions.
Thus, where there is doubt as to what provision of a statute means, that meaning which was put to
the provision during the legislative deliberation or discussion on the bill may be adopted.

6. Other statutes in pari materia

It is also a cardinal principle of construction that external aids are brought in by widening the concept
of context as including not only other enacting provisions of the same statute, but its preamble, the
existing state of law, other statutes in pari materia and the mischief which the statute was intended to
remedy.

7. Contemporaneous circumstances
Courts may resort to contemporaneous construction or that put upon it at the time of its passage or
soon afterwards and universally acquiesced in and acted upon.

8. Policy, spirit and purpose of law

The intent or spirit of the law is the law itself. For this reason, legislative intent or spirit is the
controlling factor, the leading star and the guiding light in the application and interpretation of a
statute. The spirit, rather than the letter, of a statute determines its construction; hence a statute must
be read according to its spirit or intent.

9. Executive construction
It is a construction by an executive or administrative officer directly called to implement the law. The
opinions and rulings of officials of the government called upon to execute or implement administrative
laws command much respect and weight. An interpretation embodied in a circular, directive or
regulation is an expressed interpretation.

10. Construction by the bar and legal commentators

They are always received with great respect and consideration and may be resorted to for the
purposes of determining the meaning of the statute

Deliberations
Discussion and consideration of all sides of an issue, Long and careful consideration or discussion, slow and careful
movement or thought, a process of thoughtfully weighing options, usually prior to voting.