INTERPRETATION 

OF STATUTES

(Https://Www.Djetlawyer.Com/Interpretation-

Of-Statutes/)

By Olanrewaju Olamide (https://www.djetlawyer.com/author/olyray/) Nigerian Legal System

 Posted in 

(https://www.djetlawyer.com/category/nigerian-legal-system/)

What The Interpretation Of Statutes Is All About

The interpretation of statutes is very essential to the administration of justice. They are the tools that judges use to

read  meaning  to  provisions  of  the  law  in  order  to  justify  their  decisions.  Interpretation  of  statutes  is  a  very

important issue which is not made easy due to varying factors.

One of them is that words do not usually have static meanings. the usage of some words change with time. This then

makes  the  interpretation  of  statutes  not  as  simple  as  one  would  think.  Also,  there  could  be  cases  where  the  direct

interpretation  of  words  could  lead  to  absurdity.  Or  there  could  also  be  situations  where  the  intention  of  the

legislature is not well expressed in the interpretation of statutes.

Shares
What  then  are  these  rules  of  interpretation  of  statutes?  Ordinarily,  there  three  rules  of  interpretation  of  statutes.

They are:

• The Literal rule

• The Golden rule

• The Mischief rule

The Literal Rule

This  rule  provides  that  where  the  judiciary  is  faced  with  the  interpretation  of  statutes,  the  ordinary  grammatical

meaning  of  the  word  should  be  applied.  There  should  be  no  addition,  subtraction  or  extension  of  the  meanings.  It

should be the way it was provided by the legislature.

However, if this rule is followed to the latter, there would be some problems. for example, some words change their

meaning  over  time.  Thus  if  a  statute  is  interpreted  literally,  the  meaning  of  the  word  when  the  legislature  used  it

could  be  different  from  the  meaning  when  it  is  interpreted.  Also,  there  is  the  problem  of  words  with  multiple

meanings.

In the case of  R vs Bangaza, the supreme court was faced with the problem of interpreting the provisions of S.319(2)

of  the  criminal  code  1954.  In  this  case,  the  literal  rule  was  applied  to  the  extreme.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the

supreme  court  interpreted  the  provision  of  the  law  to  mean  that  age  of  liability  is  the  age  of  conviction  and  not  the

age  of  commission.  Thus,  the  accused  who  was  charged  for  murder    was  given  capital  punishment  even  though  the

crime  was  committed  before  he  attained  the  age  of  majority.  Also,  in  the  case  of  Adegbenro  vs  Akintola  the  judicial

committee  of  the  privy  council  interpreted  the  provisions  of  S.33(10)  of  the  Western  region  constitution  which

provided  that  the  premier  could  remove  the  governor  if  it  seemed  to  him  that  he  no  longer  commanded  the  loyalty

of majority of house members. The privy council ruled that the way by which he comes to this conclusion is only by

what  he  determines.  Even  if  it  was  in  the  form  of  a  dream  or  vision  it  would  still  be  valid  according  to  the  provision

of the constitution.
It should be noted that in these two above mentioned cases the provisions of the law which were controversial were

later  amended  to  remove  the  absurdity.  This  goes  to  show  that  the  way  of  controlling  misinterpretation  of

legislation through the literal rule is by amending the provisions of the statute. it should also be noted that this rule

is usually applied where the provisions of the law are clear and unambiguous.

 The Golden Rule

The golden rule was formulated in the case of  Beck vs Smith where it was  provided that the literal interpretation of

a  statute  should  be  used  only  to  the  extent  that  it  would  not  produce  absurdity  or  negate  from  the  intention  of  the

legislature. If the literal interpretation of the statute were to produce absurdity, then the intention of the legislature

should be applied.

The  golden  rule  was  applied  in  the  case  of  Council  of  University  of  Ibadan  vs  Adamolekun  where  the  court  had  to

interpret the provision of S.3(4) of the constitution (suspension and modification decree) of 1966 which states that



where  an  edict  is  in  conflict  with  a  decree,  the  edict  is  to  become  void  to  the  extent  of  its  inconsistency  with  the

decree. However, in S.6 it was provided that no question as to the validity of a decree or edict was to be entertained

in  a  court.  The  court  ruled  that  it  would  lead  to  absurdity  to  literally  interpret  the  provision  of  S.6  due  to  the  fact

that  if  it  did,  how  then  would  it  be  able  to  enforce  the  provisions  of  S.3(4).  Thus,  the  edict  was  held  to  be  voided  by

the provisions of S.3(4).

The Mischief Rule

This  rule  means  that  in  the  interpretation  of  statute,  the  court  should  determine  the  mischief  which  the  legislature

intended to correct in the legislation by going into a voyage of discovery to determine the history of the legislation.

However,  it  should  be  noted  hat  not  every  legislation  is  made  to  correct  a  mischief.  Also,  how  deep  should  the

judges go in making a voyage of discovery? It would be difficult if the particular judge is not well versed in history.

In  Akerele  vs  Inspector  general  of  police,  the  court  was  faced  with  the  interpretation  of  the  meaning  of  the  word

“accuse”  in  S.210(b)  of  the  criminal  code  1948.  It  rejected  the  argument  per  Ademola  J  (as  he  then  was)  that  the

word  meant  swearing  under  oath.  He  said  that  by  going  into  a  short  history  of  that  section,  its  intention  was  to

prohibit the practice of indiscriminate accusations of witchcraft and trial by ordeal.

The Ejus Dem Generis Rule

This  rule  means  that  when  a  general  word  or  term  is  used  alongside  a  specific  word  or  term,  the  meaning  of  the

general  word  should  be  in  line  with  the  specific  words.  For  example,  where  the  law  uses  “…  cats,  dogs,  goats,

chickens and other animals of such kind”. The meaning of “other animals” should be domestic animals because the

specific words used were domestic animals.

Why Are Statutes Interpreted

• To be able to enforce the law.

• To avoid the miscarriage of justice which could be the case if statutes are wrongly interpreted.

Author: Olanrewaju Olamide (http://www.djetlawyer.com)

Olamide is an avid reader who believes that no knowledge is wasted. If he is not surfing the

internet, he would be doing something else to get more information, whatever that is.

  Twitter (http://twitter.com/olanrewajuolam6)    Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/djetlawyer) 
 

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Sources of Nigerian law denote where Nigerian law

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We generally have six sources of Nigerian law they

include:  1.…
March 18, 2016

(https://www.djetlawyer.com/primary-(https://www.djetlawyer.com/received-
In "Nigerian Legal System"

source-of-nigerian-law/) english-law/)

Primary Sources of Nigerian Law: Everything you PRIMARY SOURCES OF L AW: RECEIVED

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(https://www.djetlawyer.com/primary-source-of- (https://www.djetlawyer.com/received-english-

nigerian-law/) law/)

April 17, 2017 May 25, 2016

In "Nigerian Legal Method" In "Nigerian Legal Method"

 previous article (https://www.djetlawyer.com/hierachy-of-courts/)

next article  (https://www.djetlawyer.com/introduction-to-the-law-of-torts/)

4 thoughts on “INTERPRETATION OF STATUTES”

Uchegbu says:

February 27, 2017 at 8:09 PM (https://www.djetlawyer.com/interpretation-of-statutes/#comment-

5999)
Nice on sir Olamide
Reply (https://www.djetlawyer.com/interpretation-of-statutes/?replytocom=5999#respond)
 Olanrewaju Olamide (http://www.djetlawyer.com) says:

March 1, 2017 at 4:42 PM (https://www.djetlawyer.com/interpretation-of-statutes/#comment-

6004)
You’re welcome
Reply (https://www.djetlawyer.com/interpretation-of-statutes/?replytocom=6004#respond)

debby says:

January 19, 2018 at 11:04 AM (https://www.djetlawyer.com/interpretation-of-statutes/#comment-

6306)
Your site has been a great source of help to me. Welldone! Pls where can i find construction of
statutes?
Reply (https://www.djetlawyer.com/interpretation-of-statutes/?replytocom=6306#respond)

Olanrewaju Olamide (http://www.djetlawyer.com) says:

January 20, 2018 at 7:22 AM (https://www.djetlawyer.com/interpretation-of-

statutes/#comment-6307)
In my opinion, interpretation of statutes is similar to construction of statutes.
Reply (https://www.djetlawyer.com/interpretation-of-statutes/?replytocom=6307#respond)

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