LL.B. • A statute is simply the will of the legislature • The function of the court is to interpret the statute according to the intent of them that made it • Courts are bound to endeavor to place some meanings upon words used in statutes. In so doing it gives effect, as the judges have repeatedly declared, to the intention of the Parliament, but it may only elicit that intention from the actual words of the statute. • There is one rule of interpretation for statutes and other documents that you must not imply anything in them which in inconsistent with the words expressly used • If language is clear and explicit, the court must give effect to it, “ for in that case the words of the statute speak the intention of the Legislature” • The function of the court is jus dicere, not jus dare • The words of the statute must not be overruled by the courts but the reforms in the law shall be left in the hands of the parliament • Generally statutes are cited by their short titles or more precisely by the year and their passing and their chapter numbers. • After the title the date on which statute receives the royal assent is inserted and the statute is assigned a Chapter number • Normally statutes are numbered serially throughout the year • Acts are of following kinds; • Public Acts form series one and are numbered in large Arabic characters • Provisional order confirmation Acts and Local Acts form a second series and are numbered in small Roman characters • Personal Acts form third series and are numbered in small • Statutes are either Public or Private • Public Statutes relate to some public matter and do not have to formally be proved before a court of Law • Private Acts on the other hand are construed in more restrictive spirit than public statutes and must be proved through exemplification, transcript, or an examined or certified copy of the original from the Record Office or the Clerk of the Parliament. • All Acts have both long and short titles. • The long title is set out at the head of the statute and gives a fairly full description and general purpose of the Act. • The modern view is that the Title is an important part of the statute and can be referred to as an aid in the construction of an act/Statute. • Long title normally starts in these word “An Act to provide security for the tenure for occupying tenants under certain leases of residential property at low rents” • Long title though can be looked at for resolving an ambiguity yet it may not be looked at to modify the interpretation of plain language. • Short title is generally found in a section near the end of the Act. • Short title may not be taken into account in constructing a statute. • Short titles is normally applied solely for the purpose of facility • It defines the main objects of the Act and are considered as an aid in interpretation of statutes • Preambles are however, same in weight as of enacting provisions • Where there are obscure or vague enacting word, it is then you have to look into the preamble to resolve that issue • If the enacting words are able of one construction, that construction will receive the effect even if it is in consistent with the preamble • These are normally printed at the side of the Act with a view to help to summarize the effect of the section • Notes are not the part of the statute therefore, should not be considered in construction of the statute.
• Headings are regarded as preambles of the sections