Statutory Construction
Statutory Construction
CHAPTER I
PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS
Supreme Court is the one and only Constitutional Court and all other lower
courts are statutory courts and such lower courts have the power to construe
and interpret written laws.
If the law is clear and unequivocal, the Court has no other alternative but to
apply the law and not to interpret.
Dr. Lieber in his work on Hermeneutics gives the following classification of the
different kinds of interpretation:
LEGISLATIVE PROCEDURES
Bill – is the draft of a proposed law from the time of its introduction in a
legislative body through all the various stages in both houses. It is enacted
into law by a vote of the legislative body. An “Act” is the appropriate term for it
after it has been acted on and passed by the legislature. It then becomes a
statute, the written will of the legislature solemnly expressed according to the
form necessary to constitute it as the law of the state.
“Statute Law” is a term often used interchangeably with the word “statute”.
Statute Law, however, is broader in meaning since it includes not only statute
but also the judicial interpretation and application of the enactment.
A bill before it becomes a law must pass the strict constitutional requirements
explicit both in the 1973 Constitution and the 1987 Constitution.
1. Every bill passed by Congress shall embrace only one subject which shall be
expressed in the title thereof. The purposes of this constitutional
requirements are:
To prevent hodge-podge or log-rolling legislation;
To prevent surprise or fraud upon the legislature; and
To fairly apprise the people, through such publications of legislative
proceedings as is usually made, of the subjects of legislation that are
being considered, in order that they may have opportunity of being heard
thereon by petition or otherwise, if they shall so desire.
2. No bill passed by either House shall become law unless it has passed three
readings on separate days, and printed copies thereof in its final form have
been distributed to each member three days before its passage.
3. Every bill passed by the Congress shall, before it becomes a law, be
presented to the President. The executive approval and veto power of the
President is the third important constitutional requirement in the
mechanical passage of a bill.
PARTS OF STATUTE
a. Title – the heading on the preliminary part, furnishing the name by which
the act is individually known. It is usually prefixed to the statute in the
brief summary of its contents.
b. Preamble – part of statute explaining the reasons for its enactment and the
objects sought to be accomplished. Usually, it starts with “whereas”.
c. Enacting clause – part of statute which declares its enactment and serves
to identify it as an act of legislation proceeding from the proper legislative
authority. “Be enacted” is the usual formula used to start this clause.
d. Body – the main and operative part of the statute containing its substantive
and even procedural provisions. Provisos and exceptions may also be
found.
e. Repealing Clause - announces the prior statutes or specific provisions
which have been abrogated by reason of the enactment of the new law.
f. Saving Clause – restriction in a repealing act, which is intended to save
rights, pending proceedings, penalties, etc. from the annihilation which
would result from an unrestricted repeal.
g. Separability Clause – provides that in the event that one or more
provisions or unconstitutional, the remaining provisions shall still be in
force.
h. Effectivity Clause – announces the effective date of the law.
KINDS OF STATUTES
1. General Law – affects the community at large. That which affects all people
of the state or all of a particular class.
3. Local Law – relates or operates over a particular locality instead of over the
whole territory of the state.
9. Prospective Law – applicable only to cases which shall arise after its
enactment.
The Supreme Court held that the “vagueness” doctrine merely requires a
reasonable degree of certainty for the statute to be upheld--- not absolute
precision or mathematical exactitude. Flexibility, rather than meticulous
specificity, is permissible as long as the metes and bounds of the statute are
clearly delineated
REPEALS OF STATUTE MAY BE EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED
The repeal of a penal law deprives the court of jurisdiction to punish persons
charged with a violation of the old penal law prior to its repeal.
ORDINANCE
Ordinance – an act passed by the local legislative body in the exercise of its
law-making authority.
LEGISLATIVE INTENT
If the language of the statute is plain and free from ambiguity, and express a
single, definite, and sensible meaning, that meaning is conclusively presumed
to be the meaning which the legislature intended to convey.
STATUTES AS A WHOLE
When the interpretation of a statute according to the exact and literal import of
its words would lead to absurd or mischievous consequences, or would thwart
or contravene the manifest purpose of the legislature in its enactment, it
should be construed according to its spirit and reason, disregarding or
modifying, so far as may be necessary, the strict letter of the law.
When the reason of the law ceases, the law itself ceases.
Doctrine of necessary implications. What is implied in a statute is as much
a part thereof as that which is expressed.
CASUS OMISSUS
The rule of “casus omissus pro omisso habendus est” can operate and apply
only if and when the omission has been clearly established.
STARE DECISIS
It is the doctrine that, when court has once laid down a principle, and apply it
to all future cases, where facts are substantially the same, regardless of
whether the parties and properties are the same.
Stare Decisis. Follow past precedents and do not disturb what has been
settled. Matters already decided on the merits cannot be relitigated again and
again.
“Stare decisis et non quieta movere” (follow past precedents and do not disturb
what has been settled.
CHAPTER IV
CONSTRUCTION AND INTERPRETATION OF WORDS
AND PHRASES
When the law does not distinguish, courts should not distinguish. The rule,
founded on logic, is a corollary of the principle that general words and phrases
of a statute should ordinarily be accorded their natural and general
significance.
The courts should administer the law not as they think it ought to be but as
they find it and without regard to consequences.
When the law does not make any exception, courts may not except something
unless compelling reasons exist to justify it.
This rule is commonly called the “ejusdem generis” rule, because it teaches
us that broad and comprehensive expressions in an act, such as “and all
others”, or “any others”, are usually to be restricted to persons or things “of the
same kind” or class with those specially named in the preceding words.
Except:
When there is manifest of injustice
When there is no reason for exception.
Negative words and phrases regarded as mandatory while those affirmative are
mere directory.
Use of the word “may” in the statute generally connotes a permissible thing,
and operates to confer discretion while the word “shall” is imperative, operating
to impose a duty which may be enforced.
The word “must” in a statute like “shall” is not always imperative and may be
consistent with an exercise discretion.
“And” means conjunction connecting words or phrases expressing the idea that
the latter is to be added or taken along with the first.
COMPUTATION OF TIME
When the laws speak of years, months, days or nights, it shall be understood
that years are of three hundred sixty five days each; months of thirty days;
days of twenty –four hours; and nights from sunset to sunrise.
If months are designated by their name, they shall be computed by the number
of days which they respectively have.
In computing a period, the first day shall be excluded, and the last day
included (Art. 13, New Civil Code).
A “week” means a period of seven consecutive days without regard to the day of
the week on which it begins.
FUNCTION OF THE PROVISO
Proviso is a clause or part of a clause in the statute, the office of which is either
to except something from the enacting clause, or to qualify or restrain its
generality, or to exclude some possible ground of misinterpretation of its
extent.
PRESUMPTIONS
The theory is that, as the joint act of the legislative and executive authorities, a
law is supposed to have been carefully studied and determined to be
constitutional before it was finally enacted.
All laws are presumed valid and constitutional until or unless otherwise ruled
by the Court.
The law should never be interpreted in such a way as to cause injustice as this
never within the legislative intent.
Judges do not and must not unfeelingly apply the law as it is worded, yielding
like robots to the literal command without regard to its cause and
consequence.
The two laws must be absolutely incompatible, and clear finding thereof must
surface, before the inference of implied repeal may be drawn.
In the absence of an express repeal, a subsequent law cannot be construed as
repealing a prior law unless an irreconcilable inconsistency and repugnancy
exists in terms of the new and old laws.
In the interpretation of a statute, the Court should start with the assumption
that the legislature intended to enact an effective statute.
Statutes must receive a sensible construction such as will give effect to the
legislative intention so as to avoid an unjust and absurd conclusion.
INTRINSIC AIDS
The term “intrinsic” means internal or within. Intrinsic aids, therefore, are
those aids within the statute.
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; actual proceedings of the legislative body; individual
statements by members of congress; and the author of the law.
INTRINSIC AIDS
In resorting to intrinsic aids, one must go back to the parts of the statute.
The intent of the law as culled from its preamble and from the situation,
circumstances and conditions it sought to remedy, must be enforced.
EXTRINSIC AIDS
Extrinsic aids are existing aids from outside sources, meaning outside from the
four corners of the statute.
Extrinsic aids are resorted to after exhausting all the available intrinsic aids
and still there remain some ambiguity in the statute.
The best interpreter of the law or any of its provisions is the author of the law.
CHAPTER VIII
STRICT AND LIBERAL CONSTRUCTION AND
INTERPRETATION OF STATUTES
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
But the rule of strict construction is not applicable where the meaning of the
statute is certain and unambiguous , for under these circumstances, there is
no need for construction.
On the other hand, there are many statutes which will be liberally construed.
The meaning of the statute may be extended to matters which come within the
spirit or reason of the law or within the evils which the law seeks to suppress
or correct.
PENAL STATUTES
Penal laws are to be construed strictly against the state and in favor of the
accused. Hence, in the interpretation of a penal statute, the tendency is to
subject it to careful scrutiny and to construe it with such strictness as to
safeguard the right of the accused.
Taxation is a destructive power which interferes with the personal and property
rights of the people and takes from them a portion of their property for the
support of the government.
Any claim for exemption from a tax statute is strictly construed against the
taxpayer and liberally in favor of the state.
NATURALIZATION LAW
INSURANCE LAW
The sympathy of the law on social security is towards its beneficiaries and the
law by its own terms, requires a construction of utmost liberality in their favor.
RETIREMENT LAWS
Retirement laws are liberally interpreted in favor of the retiree because the
intention is to provide for the retiree’s sustenance and comfort, when he is no
longer capable of earning his livelihood.
ELECTION RULES
Statute providing for election contests are to be liberally construed to the end
that the will of the people in the choice of public officer may not be defeated by
mere technical objections.
RULES OF COURT
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
The Civil Code of the Philippines follows the above rule thus: Laws shall have
no retroactive effect, unless the contrary is provided.
PENAL STATUTES
They are those which undertake to cure errors and irregularities and
administrative proceedings, and which are designed to give effect to contracts
and other transactions between private parties which otherwise would fail of
producing their intended consequences by reason of some statutory disability
or failure to comply with some technical requirement. They are therefore
retroactive in their character.
CHAPTER X
CONFLICTING STATUTES
It may happen that in a statute, conflicting clauses and provisions may arise.
If such situation may occur, the statute must be construed as a whole.
Statutes that relate to the same subject matter, or to the same class of persons
or things, or have the same purpose or object.
If both statutes are irreconcilable, the general statute must give way to the
special or particular provisions as an exception to the general provisions.
This is so even if the general statute is later enactment of the legislature and
broad enough to include the cases in special law unless there is manifest intent
to repeal or alter the special law.
If there is conflict an ordinance and a statute, the ordinance must give way.
Under THE 1973 Constitution, those born of Filipino fathers and those born of
Filipino mothers with an alien father were placed on equal footing. They were
both considered as natural-born citizens.
A liberal construction of the “one title-one subject” rule has been invariably
adopted by the court so as not to cripple or impede legislation.
The title expresses the general subject and all the provisions are germane to
the general subject.
RESIGNATION OF THE PRESIDENT UNDER THE 1987
CONSTITUION IS NOT GOVERNED BY ANY FORMAL
REQUIREMENT AS TO FORM. IT CAN BE ORAL. IT CAN BE
WRITTEN. IT CAN BE EXPRESS. IT CAN BE IMPLIED.
SUPREMA LEX
STARE DECISIS
CONCLUSION
Construction
the act of a lawyer or court in interpreting and giving meaning to a statute or the
language of a document such as a contract or will when there is some ambiguity or
question about its meaning. In constitutional law, there is a distinction between
liberal construction (broad construction) and strict construction (narrow
construction.) Liberal construction adds modern and societal meanings to the
language, while strict construction adheres closely to the language without
interpretation.
REPETITION
The act by which a person demands and seeks to recover what he has paid by
mistake, or delivered on a condition which has not been performed. The name of
an action which lies to recover the payment which has been made by mistake,
when nothing was due.
How far money paid under a mistake of law is liable to repetition, has been
discussed by civilians, and opinions on this subject are divided.
Ambiguity
Uncertainty or doubtfulness of the meaning of language.
When language is capable of being understood in more than one way by a reasonable p
erson, ambiguity exists. It is not theuse of peculiar words or of common words used in a
peculiar sense. Words are ambiguous when their significance is unclearto persons with
competent knowledge and skill to understand them.
There are two categories of ambiguity: latent and patent. Latent ambiguity exists when t
he language used is clear andintelligible so that it suggests one meaning but some extri
nsic fact or evidence creates a need for interpretation or a choiceamong two or more po
ssible meanings. In a classic case, Raffles v. Wichelhaus, 159 Eng. Rep. 375 (Ex. 1864
), a contractwas made to sell 125 bales of cotton that were to arrive on a ship called Pe
erless that sailed from Bombay, India. Unknownto the parties to the contract, two ships
of the same name were to arrive from the same port during different months of thesame
year. This extraneous fact necessitated the interpretation of an otherwise clear and defi
nite term of the contract. Insuch cases, extrinsic or Parol
Evidence may be admitted to explain what was meant or to identify the property referre
d to inthe writing.
A patent ambiguity is one that appears on the face of a document or writing because un
certain or obscure language hasbeen used.
In the law of contracts, ambiguity means more than that the language has more than on
e meaning upon which reasonablepersons could differ. It means that after a court has a
pplied rules of interpretation, such as the PLAIN MEANING, course ofdealing, Course of
Performance, or TradeUsage rules to the unclear terms, the court still cannot say with
certainty whatmeaning was intended by the parties to the contract. When this occurs, th
e court will admit as evidence extraneous proof ofprior or contemporaneous agreements
to determine the meaning of the ambiguous language. Parol evidence may be used toe
xplain the meaning of a writing as long as its use does not vary the terms of the writing.
If there is no such evidence, thecourt may hear evidence of the subjective intention or u
nderstanding of the parties to clarify the ambiguity.
Sometimes, courts decide the meaning of ambiguous language on the basis of who was
responsible or at fault for theambiguity. When only one party knew or should have kno
wn of the ambiguity, the unsuspecting party's subjective knowledgeof the meaning will c
ontrol. If both parties knew or should have known of the uncertainty, the court will look t
o the subjectiveunderstanding of both. The ambiguity no longer exists if the parties agre
e upon its meaning. If the parties disagree and theambiguous provisions are material, n
o contract is formed because of lack of mutual assent.
Courts frequently interpret an ambiguous contract term against the interests of the party
who prepared the contract andcreated the ambiguity. This is common in cases of adhe
sion contracts and insurance contracts. A drafter of a documentshould not benefit at the
expense of an innocent party because the drafter was careless in drafting the agreeme
nt.
INTENTION VS. PURPOSE
Exegesis (/ˌɛksɪˈdʒiːsɪs/; from the Greek ἐξήγησις from ἐξηγεῖσθαι, "to lead
out") is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text