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According to Salmond, what does 'interpretation' or 'construction' of a statute mean?
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: A.
1. The ICSI text quotes **Salmond** directly: '*Interpretation or construction is the process by which the Courts seek to ascertain the meaning of the legislature through the medium of the authoritative forms in which it is expressed*.'
2. So the function of interpretation is **judicial** — it is the Court that ascertains the legislature's meaning.
3. The 'authoritative forms' refers to the words of the statute as enacted. The interpreter does not look outside the words for a presumed intention.
4. Options B, C and D distort the role — Parliament re-enacting, executive policy, and Attorney-General opinion are not interpretation in the Salmond sense.
_Source: ICSI CS Executive — Lesson 3 'Interpretation of Statutes', opening quotation by Salmond, p. 83._
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