Rules of Construction

These are the rules a Court uses when interpreting a document to determine its meaning. Some of the common rules are the Plain-Language Rule, i.e., if the language being interpreted has a widely accepted meaning, the interpretation should adopt that meaning. It also should be interpreted in such a way as not to render other passages superfluous, and courts will also look to the document as a whole to understand its context. If the language is not immediately clear, the Court may look at secondary interpretation methods, including, for example, the legislative history behind a statute.