READING STATUTESTopic 3Introduction to Legal SkillsLAF2133

byBr. Mahyuddin DaudDepartment of LawsCFS IIUM

WHAT IS A STATUTE? Statute is a written form of rules and

regulation Primary source of law Creature of the Parliament. It is an Act of Parliament

HOW STATUTE IS MADE? PARLIAMENTARY STAGES OF A GOVERNMENT BILL – 1ST READING A Bill may originate in any two Houses;

except a Money Bill, which has to originate from the House of Representatives.

The first stage known as the First Reading, is merely a formality in which a minister in the House of Representatives will stand up and table the Bill.

2ND READING This is followed by the Second Reading and

the most important one, which may take place on the same day, (with the exception of certain bills) where the policy of the bill is presented by the Minister.

If the bill is supported by another member of the House of Representatives, it is then discussed and debated in detail.

COMMITTEE STAGE At the Committee level, which comes after

the Second Reading, members may reject or amend the bill. If the House finds the Bill favourable, members take a vote by balloting and the Bill then moves on to the Third Reading.

3RD READING In the Third Reading, the particulars of the

Bill will be debated and only errors in spelling and syntax may be amended. From here, the bill moves on to the Senate or will be sent to the House of Representative if the Bill originates from the senate.

In the Senate, the Bill goes through the same procedure and if it is approved, the Bill will be presented to the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong, who will then seal it with the Keeper of the Rulers’ Seal.

Only after being gazetted in the government Gazette, the bill will then become a Law.

ISLAMIC POINT OF VIEW Statutory reference as primary source of law

applies the same concept as reference to the Qur’an

Al-Quran is treated in Islam as the ‘statute’ or highest law of Allah to His creations

Wordings in Al-Quran are written in very unique style, easy to be understood and appreciated by mankind

Considered as huda (revelation) to mankind

STRUCTURE OF A STATUTE In a legislative format, the language of the law will

usually found to be: In an unusual grammatical form Potentially confusing

Law students need to practice progressively to develop the following skills in order to overcome statutory interpretation difficulties: Sophisticated comprehension skills Vocabulary skills Grammar skills Excellent reading and writing skills etc

GENERAL LAYOUT OF A STATUTE There is a standard method of laying out

statutes which, when recognised and understood, becomes a great help for analysis or evaluation.

PARTS Most statutes will be divided into parts for

ease of reference. Each part will deal with different aspects of

the overall collection of rules and their meanings.

Each part contains sections which give more details in each area.

Where appropriate, sections will deal with definitions. Sections can be further divided into sub-sections.

Sub-sections are capable of further division, with the use of roman numerals, into paragraphs.

Paragraphs can be further divided with alphabetical ordering into sub-paragraphs.

At the end of the statute, there will often be schedules and these are numerically divided as well.

These deal further with matters raised in the various parts.

Schedules can only relate to previous sections in the Act. They cannot create anything new without an anchoring in the main body of the statute.

All statutes also contain marginal notes, headings and sub-headings. These organising devices, however, are said not to form part of the law.

Correct understanding of the relationship between parts, sections, sub-sections, paragraphs, sub-paragraphs, marginal notes, headings and schedules enables the general layout of the Act to be ascertained.

Assistance is also obtained from the ‘long title’ of the Act, which looks more like a long sentence about what the statute is about.

INTERPRETATION: INTERNAL AIDSSHORT TITLE Short title is usually found to be put as the

first section of the Act. It describes, inter alia, on how the statute

should be called or termed. E.g.: See Section 1 of Contracts Act 1950

The High Court in PP v. Chief Executive Secretary MCA [1958] 24 MLJ 151 held that the short title is part of the legislation and can be used as an aid in interpretation.

LONG TITLE & PREAMBLE The long title is found at the beginning and it

will describe the purposes of the legislation

The preamble immediately follows the long title (when there is one, which is rare nowadays)

SCHEDULE A schedule is an extension of the section

which introduces it. Material is put into a schedule because it is

too lengthy or detailed to be accommodated in a section, or because it forms a separate document (such as a treaty).

In cases where conflict arise between the body of the Act and the schedule, the schedule must give way

In other words, a schedule may be used to construe an Act only if not inconsistent with it.

MARGINAL NOTES OR SIDE NOTES Marginal notes are short explanations

that appear in the margin of a bill. They are not part of the bill, and are included only as readers’ aids or for information purposes

The courts in Malaysia, unlike in England, take the view that marginal notes are part and parcel of a statute and may be used as an aid to interpretation

This view has been affirmed by Edgar Joseph Jr. F.C.J. and Gopal Sri Ram J.C.A when they referred to the marginal note of a certain Act in Lim Phin Khian v. Kho Su Ming

ILLUSTRATIONS Occasionally, a statute gives examples to

illustrate the working of its provisions The Privy Council in Mohamed Syedol Ariffin

v Yeoh Ooi Gark [1916] 1 MC 165 stated that it is the duty of a court to accept, if that can be done, illustrations appended to sections as relevant in the interpretation in the text, and that it would require a very special case to justify their rejection on the ground of their assumed inconsistency to the sections themselves.

STATUTORY INTERPRETATION: EXTERNAL AID External aids to interpretation are those

found outside the actual Act. The following external aids have been regarded as acceptable: Dictionaries Interpretation statute (Interpretation Act) Previous or subsequent statutes on the same

subject matter Judicial decisions interpreting statutes in pari

materia Hansard