Statutory Construction

STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS 1. Statutory Construction - is the art or process of discovering and expounding meaning and intention of the authors of the law, where that intention is rendered doubtful by reason of the ambiguity in its language or of the fact that the given case is not explicitly provided for in the law - is the drawing of warranted conclusions respecting subjects that lie beyond the direct expression of the text, conclusions which are in the spirit, though not within the letter of the text 2. Statutory Interpretation is the art of finding the true meaning and sense of any form of words, while Statutory Construction is the process of drawing warranted conclusions not always included in direct expressions, or determining the application of words to facts in litigation. Interpretation is limited to exploring the written text. Construction on the other hand is the drawing of conclusions, respecting subjects that lie beyond the direct expressions of the text. 3. Necessity for Statutory Construction Rules of statutory construction are tools used to ascertain legislative intent. They are not rules of law but mere axioms of experience. Rules of statutory construction help the courts resolve bad cases. Thus, where there is ambiguity in the language of a statute, courts employ canons of statutory construction to ascertain its true intent and meaning. 4. Statutory Construction in relation to the present structure of government. In our system of government:  Legislative power is vested in the Congress of the Philippines – the Senate and the House of the Representatives.  Executive power is vested in the President of the Republic of the Philippines.  Judicial power is vested in one Supreme Court and in such lower courts as may be established by law. Legislative – makes the law Executive – executes the law Judicial – interprets the law * Construction is a judicial function. It is the duty of the Courts of Justice to settle actual