Interpretation Acts: Origins and Meaning

Barrister Chad Jacobi has created a unique and practical reference work in Interpretation Acts: Origins and Meaning. It is based on the premise that the Interpretation Acts, which are key tools to reading legislation in the various Australian jurisdictions, themselves need to be read as statutes, the meanings of which must be ascertained.

Lawyers are often confronted with the – sometimes urgent – need to understand these provisions in the context of litigation, particularly in areas highly affected by statutory interpretation, like public law as well as criminal law, succession law, industrial law and tax.

This text helps practitioners grasp the “how, what and why” of these provisions by looking to their origins: how they have come about, what has changed and what the authoritative decisions on their meaning are today. It is the first publication of its kind in Australia, presenting history that is not merely interesting on its own terms, but is important in the very practical context of law in operation. It is a must for every law library, private and public.

• Brief history of Interpretation Acts
• Preliminary
  • Binding the Crown
  • Acts deemed to be Public Acts
• Definitions
  • “Persons” and “Corporations”
  • “Month”
  • “Oaths”
  • “Land”
  • “County”
• Statutes
  • Commencement and evidence of assent
  • Citation and reference
  • Revival
  • Amendment and repeal in the same session
• General rules
  • Effect of repeal
  • Material parts of an Act
  • Within Power
  • Remedial reading
  • Gender and Number
  • Prescribed forms
  • An Act is “Always Speaking”
  • Confirming an interpretation
  • Substitution
  • “May” and “Shall”
  • Double jeopardy
  • Penalties
• Distance and Time
  • Distance
  • Time
  • Acting with “all convenient speed”
• Powers, functions and duties
  • From time to time
  • Power to appoint and re-appoint
  • Purported acts and ‘de facto’ officers
  • Delegation
• Instruments
  • Same meaning