Many countries use and apply the common law. The common law world largely operates through statutes enacted by a country's democratic legislature. These statutes are drafted and interpreted according to a uniform system of rules, presumptions, principles and canons evolved over centuries by common law judges.

In this book, Francis Bennion distills forty years of his prolific writings on statute law and statutory interpretation to provide valuable guidance on statutory interpretation applicable to all common law jurisdictions.

KEY FEATURES

• Explains the system of interpretation common to British, Commonwealth, and United States legislation under the common law
• Shows how the traditional method of statutory interpretation interlocks with the new system under the Human Rights Act (1998)
• Describes for students and legal practitioners the way to interpret British, Commonwealth, and United States legislation

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1: Basic Concepts I: Common Law Statutes; The Enactment; Legal Meaning; Factual Outline and Legal Thrust; Implied Ancillary Rules
2: Basic Concepts II: Opposing Constructions; Literal, Purposive and Developmental Interpretations
3: Grammatical and Strained Meanings
4: Consequential and Rectifying Constructions
5: Contradictory Enactments and Updating Construction
6: Drafting Techniques and the Interpretation Act
7: Transitional Provisions and the Cohen Question
8: Words in Pairs
9: Rules of Interpretation
10: Legal Policy
11: Interpretative Presumptions
12: Linguistic Canons and Interpretative Technique
13: The Nature of Judgment
14: The Nature of Discretion
15: The European Union and the HRA
16: The Jurisprudential Basis of the Common Law Method
17: The Common Law System in America
18: Techniques of Law Management

F.A.R. Bennion - Research Associate, University of Oxford Centre for Socio-Legal Studies

`Review from previous edition Francis Bennion brings with him years of experience in legislative drafting ... The treatment is uniformly illuminating, and the style is homely.' The Commonwealth Lawyer

`Readers who have come to expect a degree of iconoclasm from Francis Bennion will not be disappointed.  he includes the occasional throwaway line  which reverberates.  All this serves only to increase the pleasure of reading the book:  it never affects the careful objectivity which Bennion brings to bear on his subject.' Law Quarterly Review Vol. 118, July 2002

`... fascinating and entertaining ... The text is clear and accessible, enlivened by examples and enhanced by chapter summaries.' New Law Journal, 8 Feb 2002

`Review from previous edition The book is based on writings which span nearly four decades. It covers not only issues relating to the enactment of common law statutes and the various rules governing their interpretation, but also legal policy, the nature of discretionary powers, the jurisprudential basis of the common law method, and techniques of law management. The treatment is uniformly illuminating and the style is homely. The author's philosophy is best summed up in his observation that, "Up and down the land, statutes are not some out of the way dusty nuisance. They are part of everyday life, and we had better understand them if we can."' Dr Venkat Iyer, The Commonwealth Lawyer vol.11 no.2, August 2002

`Review from previous edition Bennion is one of Great Britain's leading scholars in the area of statutory construction. This is one of the best books on statutory construction that I have read.' Gary O'Connor, Statutory Construction Zone

`Review from previous edition [This book] not only makes a good reading on understanding common law legislation but also delves into 'global techniques' of interpretation of statutes. It also offers a blue print of law curriculum on interpretation of statutes.' K. I. Vibhute, Scholastcus, January 2004

`Review from previous edition This book lays down most lucidly the fundamentals of common law legislation, the drafting techniques and the interpretation principles. In his voluminous treatise on Interpretation, Bennion has seminally carved out new spheres of interpretative jurisprudence and this book could be said to be a prologue to the main treatise. It proved very useful in the course on Interpretation as not many books give the jurisprudential foundations of interpretation principles which it does.' Rishabh Sancheti, National Law University, India, September 2006