Warning

Info

Warning

Info

Warning

Info

LSDefine

Simple English definitions for legal terms

statutory construction

Read a random definition: ASFA

A quick definition of statutory construction:

Statutory construction, also known as statutory interpretation, is the process of figuring out what a law means so that a court can apply it correctly. Sometimes the words of a law are clear, but often there is some confusion that needs to be resolved by a judge. To understand a law, judges use different tools like looking at the words of the law, its history, and its purpose. If a law is still unclear, judges can interpret it themselves. There are rules that judges follow to make sure they interpret laws correctly, like making sure a law is consistent and that exceptions are clear. In the United States, there are two main ways judges interpret laws, but both use the same tools.

A more thorough explanation:

Statutory construction, also known as statutory interpretation, is the process of determining the meaning of a particular law or statute so that a court can apply it accurately. This process is necessary because sometimes the words of a statute may have multiple meanings or be unclear, and judges need to determine the original intent of the legislature.

For example, if a statute says that "no vehicles are allowed in the park," a judge may need to determine whether bicycles or skateboards are considered vehicles and therefore prohibited in the park.

To determine the meaning of a statute, judges use various tools of statutory interpretation, including:

Statutory construction begins with looking at the plain language of the statute to determine its original intent. If the meaning of the statute remains unclear, courts attempt to ascertain the intent of the legislature by looking at legislative history and other related sources. Courts generally avoid any interpretation that would create an absurd result that the legislature did not intend.

For example, if a statute says that "all dogs must be on a leash," a court may look at the legislative history to determine whether the legislature intended for this rule to apply to service dogs or other types of working dogs.

Because legislators may intend different things when they vote for a bill, statutory construction is often difficult. Statutes are sometimes ambiguous enough to support more than one interpretation. In these cases, courts are free to interpret statutes themselves.

Once a court interprets the statute, other courts usually will not go through the exercise again, but rather will enforce the statute as interpreted by the other court, similar to stare decisis.

Overall, statutory construction is an important process that helps ensure that laws are applied fairly and accurately.

Statute of repose | statutory damages

Warning

Info

General

General chat about the legal profession.
main_chatroom
👍 Chat vibe: 0 👎
Help us make LSD better!
Tell us what's important to you
JumpySubsequentDolphin
21:35
no he’s literally like 8 and he fully just put his head on my bicep and slept
JumpySubsequentDolphin
21:35
he has since moved
22:12
@SplitterusClitterus: me yesterday
gulc baby pls text me back... i miss you ...... :(
22:23
i just went into a discord vc and yelled "YALL I JUST GOT INTO J.M. SCHOOL OF LAW"
22:24
people were getting excited :sob:
22:25
then someone was like "what does jm stand for" and i was like .. well
AHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH
@JumpySubsequentDolphin: wait this is so cute, also where r u going
JOE MBIDEN
JumpySubsequentDolphin
22:39
@splitty Oregon!
oh yay for what thats so random
JumpySubsequentDolphin
22:45
haha my brother and sister in law live there
so cutie oregon is beatiful
soyalmondoatmilk
8:38
good morning! hoping waves will come our wave today
8:42
GW wave today?
8:57
There’s someone I found on here with the username threeoutchange and if my understanding is correct that’s a reference to the debut album by a pretty cool 90s-00s Japanese band called Supercar. I geeked a little
8:57
It could just be a baseball reference I don’t get though lol
Dkk
9:00
@renard99: also, the same band that does a song in the anime Eureka 7 which I watched when I was like idk, 12
9:00
Yeah! They are pretty good. Three Out Change is an awesome J-rock record
Dkk
9:01
I will probably not listen to them more but fun fact. Really random to start the day. An omen that the waves will be very random today.
Dkk
9:03
Fuck, reading the wikipedia now. Literal last song they did before they broke up was Storywriter. Wow.
9:05
That one is a masterpiece
9:05
My favorite song by them is Recreation
glovediedthisishismom
9:05
snowing
Dkk
9:07
@renard99: man, hard to find.
Dkk
9:07
@glovediedthisishismom: Congrats on the snow.
Dkk
9:16
@renard99: Poetic and nice.
LSD+ is ad-free, with DMs, discounts, case briefs & more.