Private Law Theory

INTRODUCTION
Statutes are expressed in words. Courts interpret and apply statutes according to their proper meaning. But words are not simple building blocks constituted of fixed and unalterable datums of meaning which are put together like Lego bricks to reveal clear and perspicuous meaning of composite sentences. Words have shades of meaning, which becomes determinate when used in specific contexts for specific purposes. There are therefore philosophical reasons why the meaning of words involves recourse to the purposes of the person who uses them … (more)

Lord Sales, ‘The role of purpose in legislative interpretation: inescapable but problematic necessity’. Presentation at the Oxford University and University of Notre Dame Seminar on Public Law Theory: Topics in Legal Interpretation, 19 September 2024.