Questions tagged [legislative-intent]
How to assess the intent of a legislature; or the assessment of a legislature's intent in a particular circumstance by reference to legislative history, intrinsic and extrinsic evidence, stated purpose, etc.
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How can I learn information about the purpose, background, and other context of recent U.K. legislation?
Suppose I would like to know the purpose of an Act, or how it relates to other Acts or international obligations.
How can I learn information about the purpose, background, and other context of recent ...
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Are legislators ever asked to explain their intent in Supreme Court cases?
I recently started to listen to recordings of arguments before the Supreme Court. I am not a lawyer so I don't completely follow everything, but I noticed right away that a lot of arguments deal with ...
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Legal/latin term: intent of law vs. actual effect
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I studied law for a year back when I was in school and I remember the teaching talking about reviewing laws and specifically, "where the actual effect of the law (today) no longer ...
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What happens if a law contains an error of fact?
If a law is passed that contains a demonstrably false statement or assumption about the world, how is it generally interpreted?
For example, laws will often list a category of things, and then give ...
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Are legislators and legislative drafts people legally one and the same?
If they are legally seen as such, this seems to me a pretty egregious (egregiously counterproductive) legal fiction. There is no way that members of a legislature can have the time to go through the ...
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Can bills (the documents of laws/legislation) have pictures? Or text only? Can images become part of the legal code?
Asking out of plain curiosity. I tried googling, but just couldn't find a combination of keywords that didn't bring up irrelevant results.
Laws become law when the congress approves of a "bill&...
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Why is place of birth shown on European driving licences?
Driving licences issued by the EEA-countries display the place of birth of the license holder. Why is this information so important that it needs to be on the driving license?
I've tried to research ...
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Ambiguous legislation and government advice
When legislation wording is ambiguous enough to potentially conflict with government advice interpreting that legislation elsewhere, how do the courts resolve the ambiguity?
For example, in New ...
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Intention to commit violent domestic abuse but failing?
This is not US-specific, I'm in Europe, but more general for all Western legal systems.
I just read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_violence_against_men and something struck me - intention is ...
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Does credit need to be immediate after using the material?
Say I am having an article in a website and there is a material that I'm allowed to use or transform with the requirement of giving credit. Does that mean the credit needs to be immediately after I ...
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Both expended and encumbered or can be one
Quoting the Maryland Capital Consolidated Bond Loan bill from the 2018 legislative session (Chapter 9 - Senate bill 186), 1(7):
“The proceeds of the loan must be expended or encumbered by the ...
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How would the law handle a "merge conflict"?
Imagine this scenario:
Bill A is passed, creating Law A.
Bill B is passed. It modifies some parts of Law A, plus it adds some laws that depend on it and some laws that do not.
A court rules that Bill ...
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Legalistic reading of passport Law
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1543
Whoever willfully and knowingly uses, or attempts to use, or furnishes to another for use any such false, forged, counterfeited, mutilated, or altered ...
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Why don't laws have examples?
I've never seen examples listed under a law, but it'd make them a lot less ambiguous and easier to understand.
For example, the 4th amendment (a law I'm familiar with) could've given a few examples ...
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Why *must* a defendant be present during a criminal trial?
The Sixth Amendment guarantees:
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury....
I recently discovered that, in general, these ...
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s 4(3) Theft Act 1968 — Why is picking wild produce on another person's land not theft?
I don't understand this law. Surmise that a wild berry shrub grows on my back yard that's unfenced. I don't cultivate it or do anything – no watering. I invite my piano student to my house – thus no ...
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Does using a spell checker online mean I'm automated and required to disclose myself as a bot to California?
Stewart's test for obscenity: "I know it when I see it", comes to mind when I read articles about Californias bot disclosure law. Specifically, I wonder what makes me a bot?
Under the ...
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When does a bill become law?
I am confused by both of these NJ bills:
A5217 and A1969
Both are nearly identical, and both indicate "Be it enacted".
Are they now the law? They appear to modify existing law. Nevertheless, that ...
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Why does the US FLSA have a separate classification for "Computer Employees"?
I've been reading a Fair Labor Standards Act fact sheet. I don't understand why "Computer Employees" are classified differently from Professional employees. What is the justification for that ...
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Congressional History and Legislative Intent of Statute 18 U.S.C.1832
To start off, I am only a high school student helping a friend of mine with a little predicament. She has asked me to research about the Congressional history and the legislative intent of a statute: ...
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If legislative intent is considered when interpreting laws, why don't lawmakers attach a note to the law explaining their intentions?
When a judge is deciding whether a law applies to a particular case, they often look at historical documents or transcripts of legislative proceedings to determine whether the lawmakers would've ...
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