DEFINITION

CONSTRUCTION VS. INTERPRETATION

SITUS OF CONSTRUCTION DUTY OF THE COURTS KINDS OF CONSTRUCTION

STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION: Statutory construction is the art of seeking the intention of the legislature in enacting a statute and applying it to a given state of facts. Statutory Construction is that branch of the law dealing with the interpretation of laws enacted by legislature. JUDICIAL LEGISLATION: Justice Myrna Vidal explains that judicial legislation takes place when a court steps in to craft missing parts or to fill in the gaps in laws or when it oversteps its discretional boundaries and goes beyond the law to coin doctrines or principles where none was before. In the case of Floresca vs. Philex Mining, the Court held that to declare what the law shall be is legislative, but to declare what the law is or has been, is judicial. However, the legislator himself recognizes that in certain instances, the court do and must legislate to fill in the gaps in the law; because the mind of the legislator, like all human beings, is finite and therefore cannot envisage all possible cases to which the law may apply. CONSTRUCTION: It is the art 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 that intention is rendered doubtful either by reason of apparently conflicting provisions or directions, or by reason of the fact that the given case is not explicitly provided for in the law. INTERPRETATION: It is the art or process of discovering and expounding the intended signification of the language used, that is, the meaning which the authors intended to convey to others. HERMENEUTICS: LEGAL HERMENEUTICS: AMBIGUITY: In the case of Abello et. al, vs. Commisioner, the Court defined ambiguity as a condition of admitting two or more meanings, of being understood in more than one way, or of referring to two or more things at the same time. A statute is ambiguous if it is admissible of two or more possible meanings, in which case, the Court is called upon to exercise one of its judicial functions, which is to interpret the law according to its true intent. CONSTRUCTION, as applied to written instruments, means the putting together of two or more indicia of the writers meaning, whether found within or without the text, and thence deriving a conclusion in regard to that meaning. INTERPRETATION is the process of discovering and expounding the meaning of the words used from the text alone. Thus, interpretation is limited to exploring the written text while construction goes beyond and may call in the aid of extrinsic considerations. The situs of construction and interpretation of written laws belong to the judicial department. Thus, under the principle of checks and balances, courts may declare legislative measures or executive acts unconstitutional. The courts primary duty is to apply the law Close/literal/strict Extensive/liberal Extravagant/artificial/forced/strained Free/unrestricted

SUBJECTS OF CONSTRUCTION

Limited/restricted/strict Predestined Comprehensive Transcendent The most common subjects of construction and interpretation are the constitution and statutes which include ordinances. But we may also add resolutions, executive orders and department circulars. Statute law is the will of the legislature; and the object of all judicial interpretation of it is to determine what intention is conveyed, either expressly or by implication, by the language used, so far as it is necessary for determining whether the particular case or state of facts presented to the interpreter falls within it.

DEFINITION

EXAMPLE

CONSTITUTIONAL TEST IN THE PASSAGE OF A BILL

LAW, in its generic sense, law refers to the whole body or system of laws. In its jural and concrete sense, law means a rule of conduct formulated and made obligatory by the legitimate power of the state. 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. ACT is the appropriate term for a bill after it has been acted on and passed by the legislature. STATUTE is the written will of the legislature solemnly expressed according to the form necessary to constitute it as the law of the state. STATUTE LAW includes not only statute but also the judicial interpretation and application of the enactment. ORDINANCE is an act passed by the local legislative body in the exercise of its law-making authority. Statutes enacted by the legislature Presidential decrees Executive orders Other presidential issuances: 1. Administrative order 2. Proclamation 3. Memorandum orders 4. Memorandum circulars 5. Executive orders Rulings of the Supreme Court Rules and regulation promulgated by administrative or executive officers pursuant to a delegated power Ordinances passed by the LGUs 1. Every bill passed by Congress shall embrace only one subject which shall be expressed in the title thereof. The purposes of these constitutional requirements are: To prevent hodge-podge or log-rolling legislation; To prevent surprise or fraud upon the legislature; 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

PARTS OF A STATUTE

1.

2. 3.

4. 5. 6.

7. 8.

KINDS OF STATUTES

President. The executive approval and veto power of the President is the third important constitutional requirement in the mechanical passage of a bill. 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. Preamble part of statute explaining the reasons for its enactment and the objects sought to be accomplished. Usually, it starts with whereas. 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. Body the main and operative part of the statute containing its substantive and even procedural provisions. Provisos and exceptions may also be found. Repealing Clause - announces the prior statutes or specific provisions which have been abrogated by reason of the enactment of the new law. 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. Separability Clause provides that in the event that one or more provisions or unconstitutional, the remaining provisions shall still be in force. Effectivity Clause announces the effective date of the law. General Law affects the community at large. That which affects all people of the state or all of a particular class. Special Law designed for a particular purpose, or limited in range or confined to a prescribed field of action on operation. Local Law relates or operates over a particular locality instead of over the whole territory of the state. Public Law a general classification of law, consisting generally of constitutional, administrative, criminal, and international law, concerned with the organization of the state, the relations between the state and the people who compose it, the responsibilities of public officers of the state, to each other, and to private persons, and the relations of state to one another. Public law may be general, local or special law. Private Law defines, regulates, enforces and administers relationships among individuals, associations and corporations. They are passed for the accommodation of particular persons. Remedial Statute providing means or method whereby causes of action may be effectuated, wrongs redressed and relief obtained. It is designed to correct an existing law, redress an existing grievance, or introduce regulations conducive to the public good, and generally is to be liberally construed. Curative Statute a form of retrospective legislation which reaches back into the past to operate upon past events, acts or transactions in order to correct errors and irregularities and to render valid and effective many attempted acts which would otherwise be ineffective for the purpose intended. Penal Statute defines criminal offenses specify corresponding fines and punishments. It includes all statutes which command or prohibit certain acts and establish penalties for their violation. Prospective Law applicable only to cases which shall arise after its enactment. Retrospective Law looks backward or contemplates the past; one which is made to affect acts or facts occurring, or rights occurring, before it came into force. Affirmative Statute directs the doing of an act, or declares what shall be done in contrast to a negative statute which is one that prohibits the things from being done, or declares

TYPES OF STATUTES

TEST OF A VALID ORDINANCE

REPEALS OF A STATUTE

CONCEPT OF VAGUE STATUTES

what shall not be done. Mandatory Statutes generic term describing statutes which require and not merely permit a course of action. Passed by the Philippine Legislature 1. Philippine Commission 2. Philippine Legislature 3. Batasang Pambansa 4. Congress of the Philippines Made by the president 1. Presidential decrees (1973 constitution) 2. Executive orders (Freedom Constitution) Manner of referring to statutes: 1901-1935: Philippine Commission and Philippine Legislature 1936-1946: Commonwealth Acts 1946-1972: Republic Acts 1987-present: Republic Acts 1. Must not contravene the Constitution or any statute; 2. Must not be unfair or oppressive; 3. Must not be partial or discriminatory; 4. Must not prohibit but may regulate trade; 5. Must be general and consistent with public policy; and 6. Must not be unreasonable Express repeal abrogation or annulling of a previously existing law by the enactment of a subsequent statute which declares that the former law shall be revoked and abrogated. Implied repeals when a later statute contains provisions so contrary to or irreconcilable with those of the earlier law that only one of the two statutes can stand in force. A statute or act may be said to be vague when it lacks comprehensible standards that men of common intelligence must necessarily guess at its meaning and differ in its application. In such instance, the statute is repugnant to the Constitution in two (2) respects - it violates due process for failure to accord persons, especially the parties targeted by it, fair notice of what conduct to avoid; and, it leaves law enforcers unbridled discretion in carrying out its provisions and becomes an arbitrary flexing of the Government muscle.[10] But the doctrine does not apply as against legislations that are merely couched in imprecise language but which nonetheless specify a standard though defectively phrased; or to those that are apparently ambiguous yet fairly applicable to certain types of activities. The first may be "saved" by proper construction, while no challenge may be mounted as against the second whenever directed against such activities.[11] With more reason, the doctrine cannot be invoked where the assailed statute is clear and free from ambiguity. The test in determining whether a criminal statute is void for uncertainty is whether the language conveys a sufficiently definite warning as to the proscribed conduct when measured by common understanding and practice.[12] It must be stressed, however, that the "vagueness" doctrine merely requires a reasonable degree of certainty for the statute to be upheld - not absolute precision or mathematical exactitude, as petitioner seems to suggest. Flexibility, rather than meticulous specificity, is permissible as long as the metes and bounds of the statute are clearly delineated. An act will not be held invalid merely because it might have been more explicit in its wordings or detailed in its provisions, especially where, because of the nature of the act, it would be impossible to provide all the details in advance as in all other statutes.