Bare in its literal sense is something that is uncovered and act is a set of laws so terminologically bare act is the exact text of a particular enactment as it was passed by the parliament or the state legislature. Bare act just states the law and nothing else. It does not contain any case laws or commentaries. In fact, it contains law in its purest form.
Bare act analysis is inevitable in the legal profession. Many times we find lawyers and judges stricken on a selected provision of law making an attempt to search out the true intention of the legislature. Out of the three wings of the government namely legislature, executive and judiciary, interpretation is the primary function of the judiciary.
As justifiedly aforementioned by Salmond “The essence of law lies within the spirit, not in its letter, for the letter is critical solely as being the external manifestation of the intention that underlies it.”
The very first thing one has to do before reading a Bare Act is to grasp the aim and objects of that specific enactment, to search out why the act was enacted by the legislature within the initial place. Nearly every Act provides a long title within the starting of that Act which outlines the object of that Act, for instance, the long title of The Companies Act, 2013 is “An Act to consolidate and amend the law relating to companies” defines the object of The Companies Act, 2013. Similarly, the long title of The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 is “An Act to amend and codify the law relating to marriage among Hindus” defines the object of The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955
Always try and relate each section, clauses and illustrations with the aim of the Act, it will help to have a clear understanding of that specific enactment. Once the purpose of an Act is clear one can understand all the things very easily.
- Every Act gives a definition clause at the beginning of the Act, this definition clause outline or explains a number of the terms employed in the Act. In most of the Bare Acts section 2 contains definitions, for instance, the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 contains the definitions of some terms or words which are employed in the Act and these particular terms shall be taken as Section 2 explains.
Not all Acts provides definition or interpretation clause in Section 2, some Acts could offer in the other sections, for instance, Section 3 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 states interpretation clause in Section 3.
Sometimes there is also some terms or words that have not been outlined within the interpretation or definition clause, therein cases we have got to travel through the General Clauses Act, 1891 to grasp these terms.
- The main objective and purpose of the Act is additionally found within the Preamble of the Act.
Preamble is that Act in shell. It will be lawfully be used for the interpretation.
- The language in these bare acts is not so easy, so if you do not get it once then try to read it multiple times slowly in order to understand the correct meaning.
- Try to break the sentences in brief elements for higher understanding.
- While reading Bare Acts one need to give some special attention to such terms like “and”, “or”, “may”, “shall”, “should” etc. Casual approach cannot be adopted while reading these terms as they are capable of changing the meaning of the sentence in its entirety.
- “And” usually signifies a conjunctive list, that means every
condition in the list must be satisfied, while “or” usually signifies a disjunctive list, that means satisfying any one condition within the list is sufficient.
- Generally, “shall” signifies that certain behaviour is mandated by the statute, whereas “may” grants the agent some discretion.
- Unless Except
These terms usually signify an exception to the statute.
- Subject to..Within the meaning of For the purposes of
These terms may limit the scope of the statute, or may indicate that a certain part of the statute is controlled or restricted by another section or statute.
- If…then… Upon Before/After Provided that…
Generally, these terms indicate that for a part of a statute to take effect, a precondition or requirement must be satisfied.
- Notwithstanding
Literally, “in spite of,” this term usually signifies that a precise term or provision is not controlled or limited by alternative parts of the statute, or by alternative statutes.
- Each/Only Every/Any/All
These terms usually limit the class of objects that are either included in or excluded from the statute.
- Commentaries on a selected enactment is additionally a really reliable supply of research as it always provides the outline of the law, leading cases and therefore the connected legislation.
- Punctuations could be a minor component in construction of a Statue although plays a significant role in Interpretation.
Over the years some rules of interpretations are developed so as to bring uniformity to the method.
Rules of Interpretation
The Literal or Grammatical Interpretation
This is the primary rule of interpretation. Under this, words of the statute are given their natural and ordinary meaning.
The Mischief Rule
Under this rule the main aim is to determine the “defect” that the statute has set out to remedy and what interpretation would implement this remedy.
The Golden Rule
This rule permits a shift from the ordinary sense of the word if the overall content demands it.
Harmonious Construction
According to this rule when two provisions of the same statute are inconsistent or incompatible with one another they should be interpreted in a way to give effect to both of them.
Rule of Ejusdem Generis
According to this rule general words following the specific words are to be interpreted with reference to specific that precede them.
These are the rules which are evolved for extracting the true intent of the legislature. Statues are interpreted to enforce the law and to serve justice. They have to be interpreted correctly for the sake of society at large.
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