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Legal Language · Unit 6

Internal Aids to the Interpretation of a Statute

Unit 6 of Legal Language including Legal Writing and General English (syllabus: Module 6). Below: what the unit covers, the provisions it turns on, and the cases an examiner expects you to name.

What this unit covers

  • Which parts of an Act may be used to construe it?
  • How far can the title, the preamble and a heading carry an argument?
  • What does a definitions clause do, and when does it yield?
  • Proviso, exception, Explanation, illustration, Schedule: which of them cuts down the section?

Treat that list as a self-test: recite each topic's rule from memory before you open its cases.

Leading cases

  • Aswini Kumar Ghose v Arabinda Bose (SC
  • A.C. Sharma v Delhi Administration (SC
  • P. Kasilingam v P.S.G. College of Technology (SC
  • S. Sundaram Pillai v V.R. Pattabiraman (SC

Exam questions on this unit