LAW AND ITS APPLICATION

INTRO. TO LAW CHAPTER 3

Prepared by: MAYBELLE V. PEA

COURT DUTY TO DECIDE EVERY

CASE:
1. Custom which are not contrary to law,
public order or public policy.
2. Court decisions, foreign or local, in
similar cases.
3. Legal opinions of qualified writers and
professors.
4. General principles in justice and
equity; and

INTERPRETATION of LAWS
When the law and its meaning is clear
and unmistakable, there is no need to
interpret it any further;
When construction and interpretation is
necessary; the court should interpret the
law according to the meaning the
legislature intended to give it;
If there are two possible interpretation of
the law, that which will achieve the end
desired by congress should be adopted;

Laws of pleading, practice and procedure

likely liberally construed in order to
promote their object and to assist the
parties in obtaining just, speedy and
expensive determination of every action
and proceeding; and
In case of doubt in the interpretation and
application of laws and when all other
rules of statutory construction fail, it is
presuming that the lawmaking body
intended right and justice to prevail.

APPLICATIONS of LAW

The law should discover the real

intent and the purpose of the
legislature. If that intent and
purpose can be discovered within
the law, it is the duty of the court
to carry out that intention.

STATUTORY
CONSTRUCTION, ITS
CONCEPT,PURPOSE, and
EFFECT:

Statutory Construction :
Is the act or process of discovering and
expounding the meaning and intention
of the authors of the law with respect
to its application to a given case, where
the intention is rendered doubtful,
among others, by reason of the fact
that the given case is not explicitly
provided for in the law.

CONSTRUCTION DISTINGUISHED
from INTERPRETATION:

Construction and interpretation

have the same purpose and that
is to ascertain and give effect
to the legislative intent.

One must interpret first before he

construes

In trying to ascertain the legislative intent,

courts should first be guided by intrinsic
aids, or those found in the law itself. If the
legislative intent could be ascertained by
merely making use of intrinsic aids, there is
no need to make use extrinsic aids, or those
found outside of the written language of the
law. This is the consistent ruling of the
supreme court in long line of cases.

INTRINSIC AIDS DISTINGUISHED from

EXTRINSIC AIDS:
INTRINSIC AIDS are any of the ff: title, preamble,
words, phrases and sentences context;
punctuation; headings and marginal notes; and
legislative definitions and interpretation clauses. All
of these are found in law itself.
EXTRINSIC AIDS may consist of contemporaneous
circumstances, policy, legislative history of the
statute, contemporaneous or practical
construction, executive construction, legislative
construction, judicial construction, and construction
by the bar and legal commentators.

WHEN

IS IT
NECESSARY AND
NOT NECESSARY TO
INTERPRET AND
CONSTRUCT ?

WHEN NECESSARY ?

When the language of the statute is

ambiguous, doubtful or obscure when
taken in the relation to a set of facts; and

When reasonable minds disagree as to

meaning of the language used in the
statute.

WHEN NOT NECESSARY ?

It is not necessary to interpret or construct

when the law speaks in clear and
categorical language. The duty of court, in
such a case, is to APPLY THE LAW, NOT
TO INTERPRET IT.

WHO INTERPRETS THE LAW AND

WHO DETERMINES LEGISLATIVE
INTENT ?

Anyone can interpret the law:

Lawyers
Policemen
Arbiters
Administrative boards
Agencies, government as well as private
executives are involved from time to time
in the interpretation of laws.

WHICH PREVAILS- THE LETTER OF

THE LAW OR THE SPIRIT OF THE
LAW ?
When the language of the law is clear and
unequivocal, the courts duty is to apply it,
not to interpret it.
if the language of the law is clear and
unequivocal, then read the law to
mean exactly what it says. If not, look
for the intention of the legislature.

AIDS IN INTERPRETATION AND CONSTRUCTION

I.

USE INTRINSIC AIDS BEFORE

RESORTING TO EXTRINSIC AIDS.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

TITLE
PREAMBLE
WORDS,PHRASES AND SENTENCES CONTEXT
PUNCTUATION
HEADINGS AND MARGINAL NOTES
LEGISLATIVE DEFINITION AND
INTERPRETATION

II.

EXTRINSIC AIDS
1.
2.
3.
4.

5.
6.
7.
8.

CONTEMPORANEOUS CIRCUMSTANCES
POLICY
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY OF THE STATUTE
CONTEMPORANEOUS AND PRACTICAL
CONSTRUCTION
EXECUTIVE CONSTRUCTION
LEGISLATIVE CONSTRUCTION
JUDICIAL CONSTRUCTION
CONSTRUCTION BY THE BAR AND LEGAL
COMENTATORS

SIMPLIFICATION OF THE RULE

REGARDING THE USE OF
EXTRINSIC AIDS

Extrinsic aids, such as those

mentioned above, are entitled to
respect, consideration and
weight but the courts are at
liberty to decide whether they
are applicable or not to the case
brought to it for decision.

THANK YOU