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Simple English definitions for legal terms
legislative intent
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A quick definition of legislative intent:
Legislative intent refers to the plan or purpose that lawmakers had in mind when they created a law. It is important to understand what the legislators intended when interpreting a law. This can be determined by looking at the actual words of the law or by understanding what the lawmakers would have intended if they had thought about a particular situation. Sometimes, there may be a hidden or dormant intent that can be discovered by examining the context of the law.
A more thorough explanation:
Definition: Legislative intent refers to the plan or purpose that the lawmakers had in mind when they passed a law. It is also known as the intention of the legislature, congressional intent, or parliamentary intent.
Legislative intent can be determined by examining the language of the law itself, as well as the context in which it was passed. This can include looking at the legislative history, such as committee reports, floor debates, and other documents that shed light on the lawmakers' intentions.
For example, if a law is passed to address a specific problem, such as pollution in a particular area, the legislative intent would be to reduce or eliminate that pollution. If a court is called upon to interpret the law, it would look to the legislative intent to determine how the law should be applied in a particular case.
Another example of legislative intent might be a law that is passed to protect consumers from fraudulent business practices. The legislative intent would be to ensure that consumers are not taken advantage of by unscrupulous businesses. If a court is asked to interpret the law, it would look to the legislative intent to determine whether a particular business practice is fraudulent or not.
In short, legislative intent is an important factor in interpreting laws and understanding the purpose behind them.