GENERALIA SPECIALIBUS NON DEROGANT

These laws are in place today because a need was realised to form laws,
especially for a field. But even these bring problems of their own. In some
cases, a party may benefit from a general law provision but suffer from a special
law provision and vice-versa. That is where this maxim comes in.

Generalia specialibus non derogant is a Latin maxim. It is a maxim used for

statutory interpretation.

Generalia stands from general and Specialibus stands for special.

Thus, when interpreted, it means that general laws do not prevail over special
laws or, the general does not detract from specifics.

Situations when Generalis Specialibus Non Derogant is used:

This maxim is used in the interpretation of statutes. To decide which statute is

valid in which case, there should be a conflict between an earlier and a later
statute.

There could be a question on the scope of the law in question. What is the scope
of a special law and what is the scope of general law with respect to the problem

Generalis Specialibus non Derogant means erstwhile special law is given

superiority over later general law. This has been followed in many cases in
India as well as the US and other countries such as Canada and the UK.

But, mechanically applying this maxim yields no good. It is important to note

that:

 Special law and general law are to be assigned to acts according to the
case in question.
 The intention of the legislature in enacting a specific law has to be taken
into account.
 The courts should always check first if the doctrine of harmonious
construction and Principle of election can be applied or not before
applying this maxim.
THE RULE OF REDDENDO SINGULA SINGULIS

Reddendo singula singulis is a Latin term that means by referring each to each;
referring each phrase or expression to its corresponding object. In simple words
“reddendo singula singulis” means that when a list of words has a modifying
phase at the end, the phrase refers only to the last. It is a rule of construction
used usually in distributing property. Where there are general words of
description, following a record of particular things uch general words are to be
construed distributively, and if the general words will apply to some things and
not to others, the general words are to be applied to those things to which they
will, and not to those to which they will not apply; that is to say, each phrase,
word or expression is to be referred to its suitable objects.

Reddendo singula singulis is a Latin term that means by referring each to each;
referring each phrase or expression to its corresponding object. It is a rule of
construction used typically in distributing property. For example, when a will
says "I devise and bequeath all my real and personal property to A", the
principle of reddendo singula singulis would apply as if it read "I devise all my
real property, and bequeath all my personal property, to B", since the word
devise is appropriate only to real property and the term bequeath is appropriate
only to personal property.