The Course aims at training students for the legal profession from the perspective of language of the law and its interpretation and enabling them to get familiar with concepts and principles of law. This course will equip students to become familiar with the formalized and professional language which is used in the Court of Law. They will be able to understand the meaning and application of legal Maxims in written and oral submissions advanced before the Courts. This course intends to train the students in reading, intellectually understanding and citing cases. The students will acquire expertise in comprehending the abbreviation of Law Reports and search of case laws in the relevant Law Reports and e-data bases. The students will be well versed in the study of precedents with relation to case laws involving matters of public importance, decided by the various Courts.
Course Outcomes:
After the completion of this course the student will be able to:
Get accustomed to the language of the Court and with the legal concepts.
Search the case laws with ease.
Understand the application of Legal Maxims.
Understand the use of Law Reports.
Read and understand statute and its classification
Nova constituito futris formam imponere debet non praetertis.
Noscitur a sociis
Expressio unis est exclusio alterius
Vigilantibus, non domientibus, jura subveniunt
Quod ab initio non valet in tractu temporis non convalesscit
Nullus commodum capere potest de injuria sua propria
Cessante retione legis cessat ipsa lex
Acta exteriora indicant interiora secreta
Domus sua cuique est tutissimum refugium
Nemo est haeres viventis
Ignorantia facti excusat, ignorantia lex non excusat
Module 2:
Law Reports, Magazines and References to Case Laws Law Reports Law Magazines Explanation of citations The search of a case law Abbreviations of law Reports
Statutes (Enactments) – Meaning and Classification
Commencement of Statutes- Prospective application, Retrospective effect, Repeal of Statutes, Provisions dealing with repeal under the General Clauses Act.
General English: Essay writing, comprehension, and rules of grammar Active-passive, direct and indirect speech, degrees of comparison, kinds of sentences- interrogative, exclamatory, imperative, assertive, positive, and negative Question tags.
Module 3:
Legislative Material –
Internal Aids -Parts of a statute and their function in interpretation of a statute – Short and long titles, preamble, schedules, marginal headings, parts, and their captions, chapters and their captions, marginal and section-headings, Definition‘s clause and types of definitions, Explanations, exceptions, illustrations, and provisos, Language, and punctuation, non-obstante clause and saving clause.
External Aids – External Aids to the interpretation of a statute – Dictionaries, Translations, Travaux Preparatiories, Statutes in pari materia, Contemporanea Exposito, Debates, and Reports.
Judicial material – Ratio and guidelines of courts in the following cases, minority, and majority judgements:
D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal – AIR 1997 SC 610
M.C. Mehta V. Union of India – AIR 1987 SC 965
Vishakha v. State of Rajasthan – AIR 1997 SC 3011
Joseph Shine v. Union of India – AIR 2018 SC 4898
Aruna Shanbaug v. Union of India – AIR 2011 SC 1290
Young Lawyers Association v. the State of Kerala – AIR 2018 SC 1690
Module 4:
Rules of interpretation of Statutes – Literal, Mischief and Golden rule of interpretation Secondary Rules or Subsidiary Rules of Interpretation- Noscitur a Sociis, Ejusdem Generis, Reddando Singula Singulis, Interpretation with reference to the subject matter and purpose – Restrictive and beneficial construction, Taxing statutes, Penal statutes and Welfare legislation, Interpretation of directory and mandatory provisions, Interpretation of substantive and adjunctively statutes.
Presumptions in Statutory interpretation – Statutes are valid, Statutes are territorial in operation, Presumption as to jurisdiction, Presumption against what is inconvenient or absurd, Presumption against intending injustice, Presumption against impairing obligations or permitting advantage from one‘s own wrong.
General Clauses Act, 1897
Suggested Readings:
Legal language and Legal Writing by Prof D.K. Shukla.
Legal Language and Legal Writing by Prof. Dr. K.L.Bhatia.
G.P Singh, Principles of Statutory Interpretation
Golden Legal Maxims by Maxwell
Broom‘s Legal Maxims, Lexus Nexis
Law Lexicon
Latin words, phrases, and maxims by R. S. Vasant
Maxwell on Interpretation of Statutes.
N.S. Bindra‘s Interpretation of Statutes
V. Sarthy, Interpretation of Statutes
Avatar Singh Interpretation of Statutes
Dr. Shrikant Mishra‘s Legal Language and Legal Writing
Wren and Martin, English Grammar
Is law required to be demystified? Should law be a puzzle that needs to be solved? Laws are meant to resolve disputes, not become disputed themselves. Law should not be mystery to the common man. Law is not written as an edict meant for the legal experts. They apply and govern almost everything in our daily lives and therefore use of simple language is required. This enables the citizens to take informed decisions and avoid unintentional violations. This equally applies to our decisions and judgements.
Justice Khanna, at valedictory session of International Lawyers’ Conference organised by the Bar Council of India
Everyday phrase:
“I give you this orange.”
Legal translation:
Know all the persons by these presents that I hereby give, grant, bargain, sell, release, convey, transfer, and quitclaim all my right, title, interest, benefit, and use whatever in, of, and concerning this chattel, known as an orange, or Citrus orantium, together with all the appurtenances thereto of skin, pulp, pip, rind, seeds, and juice, to have and to hold the said orange together with its skin, pulp, pip, rind, seeds, and juice, for his own use and behoof, to himself and his heirs, in fee simple forever, free from all liens, encumbrances, easements, limitations, restraints, or conditions whatsoever, any and all prior deeds, transfers, or other documents whatsoever, now or anywhere made, to the contrary notwithstanding, with full power to bite, cut, suck, or otherwise eat the said orange or to give away the same, with or without its skin, pulp, pip, rind, seeds, or juice.
“Never judge someone’s character based on the words of another. Instead, study the motives behind the words of the person casting the bad judgment. An honest woman can sell tangerines all day and remain a good person until she dies, but there will always be naysayers who will try to convince you otherwise. Perhaps this woman did not give them something for free, or at a discount. Perhaps too, that she refused to stand with them when they were wrong — or just stood up for something she felt was right. And also, it could be that some bitter women are envious of her, or that she rejected the advances of some very proud men. Always trust your heart. If the Creator stood before a million men with the light of a million lamps, only a few would truly see him because truth is already alive in their hearts. Truth can only be seen by those with truth in them. He who does not have Truth in his heart, will always be blind to her.”
Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem
“The said Ivan Dovgochkun, son of Nikifor, when I went to him with a friendly proposition, called me publicly by an epithet insulting and injurious to my honor, namely, a goose, whereas it is known to the whole district of Mirgorod, that I never was named after that disgusting animal, and have no intention of ever being named after it. And the proof of my noble extraction is, that, in the baptismal register to be found in the Church of the Three Bishops, the day of my birth, and likewise the fact of my baptism, are inscribed. But a goose, as is well known to every one who has any knowledge of science, cannot be inscribed in the baptismal register; for a goose is not a man, but a fowl: which, likewise, is sufficiently well known, even to persons who have not been to a seminary. But the evil-minded nobleman, being privy to all these facts, for no other purpose than to offer a deadly insult to my rank and calling, affronted me with the aforesaid foul word.”
