BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING

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` The words of an Act are authoritative because:

◦ They are passed though the law making procedures.

` Interpretation of the law has to follow various

rules and principles.

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The meaning of a law phrase may be contained in:

` its context as suggested by common sense.

` the definition section which assigns special

meaning to some of the statute terms.

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` ‘arbitrator’ means an arbitrator appointed under
section 19 of the Labour Institutions Act, 2004.
` Arbitration
◦ Definition
A process in which a disagreement between two or
more parties is resolved by impartial individuals, called
arbitrators, in order to avoid costly and lengthy
litigation.

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` Definition
A private, neutral person chosen to arbitrate
a disagreement, as opposed to a court of
law. An arbitrator could be used to settle any
non-criminal dispute, and many business
contracts make provisions for an arbitrator in
the event of a disagreement. Generally,
resolving a disagreement through an
arbitrator is substantially less expensive than
resolving it through a court of law.

K. W. SIMBILA.
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` ‘child’ means a person under the age of 14
years, provided that for the employment in
hazardous sector, child means a person
under the age of 18 years.

K. W. SIMBILA.
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When interpreting statutes,
` courts of law tend to discover the intention of
the legislature.

` If a court finds it hard to do so, it finds out a

meaning which the legislature would have
given in the light of this situation. This is
‘fringe’ meaning.

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The task of interpreting statute gives judges
the chance of expressing their own opinions.

This situation encourages the judges to refer to

the common law.

They find out how the legal position was before

the respective Act.

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When words of a statute clearly govern the
situation before the court;

` The judges must apply the words with

nothing added or removed.

` The court can neither extend the statute to

a case not within its terms nor curtail it by
leaving a case that the statute literary
includes.

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` Judges can construe a statute in such a way as to produce
a reasonable result.

` The construed rule to avoid absurdity is sometimes called

the ‘golden rule’. This applies only in three types of
cases.
◦ The sensible meaning and absurd meaning both are
linguistically possible.

◦ The golden rule does not contradict the literal rule.

◦ Judges are correcting a statute. Very strong reasons to

include the court to meddle with a statute.

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` Presumptions are instances when the duty of the
judges goes beyond automatic enforcement of the
dictates of Parliament. The judges’ function is also
to do justice in accordance with settled principles
of law in a free society;

` The most controversial presumptions are those

enshrine the values of a capitalist society. E.g.

◦ the presumption against interference with vested rights,

◦ the presumption against the taking of property without
compensation, and
◦ the presumption against interference with contract.

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THANK YOU FOR LISTENING

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