practice. It is defined by Mr. Powell to be “the drawing in inference by the act of reason, as to the intent of an instrument, from given circumstances, upon principles deduced from men’s general motives, conduct and action.” This definition may, perhaps, not be sufficiently complete, inasmuch as the term instrument generally implies something reduced into writing, whereas construction, is equally necessary to ascertain the meaning of engagements merely verbal. In other respects it appears to be perfectly accurate. The Treatise of Equity, defines interpretation to be the collection of the meaning out of signs the most probable. 1 Powell on Con. 370. 2. There are two kinds of constructions; the first, is literal or strict; this is uniformly the construction given to penal statutes. The other is liberal, and applied, usually, to remedial laws, in order to enforce them according to their spirit. 3. In the supreme court of the United States, the rule which has been uniformly observed in construing statutes, is to adopt the construction made by the courts of the country by whose legislature the statute was enacted. This rule may be susceptible of some modification when applied to British statutes which are adopted in any of these states. By adopting them, they become our own, as entirely as if they had been enacted by the legislature of the state. 4. The received construction, in England, at the time they are admitted to operate in this country indeed, to the time of our separation from the British empire may very properly be considered as accompanying the statutes themselves, and forming an integral part of them. But, however we may respect the subsequent decisions (and certainly they are entitled to great respect,) we do not admit their absolute authority. If the English courts vary their construction of a statute, which is common to the two countries, we do not hold ourselves bound to fluctuate with them. 5 Pet. R. 280. 5. The great object which the law has in all cases, in contemplation, as furnishing the leading principle of the rules to be observed in the construction of contracts, is, that justice is to be done between the parties, by enforcing the performance of their agreement, according to the sense in which it was mutually understood and relied upon at the time of making it. 6. When the contract is in writing, the difficulty lies only in the construction of the words; when it is to be made out by parol testimony, that difficulty is augmented by the possible mistakes of the witnesses as to the words used by the parties; but still, when the evidence is received, it must be assumed as correct, when a construction is to be put upon it. The following are the principal rules to be observed in the construction of contracts. When. the words used are of precise and unambiguous meaning, leading to no absurdity, that meaning is to be taken as conveying the intention of the parties. But should there be manifest absurdity in the application of such meaning, to the particular occasion, this will let in construction to discover the true intention of the parties: for example; 1st. When words are manifestly inconsistent with the declared purpose and object of the contract, they will be rejected; as if, in a contract of sale, the price of the thing sold should be acknowledged as received, while the obligation of the seller was not to deliver the commodity. 2 Atk. R. 32. 2d. When words are omitted so as to defeat the effect of the contract, they will be supplied by the obvious sense and inference from the context; as, if the contract stated that the seller, for the consideration of one hundred dollars, sold a horse, and the buyer promised to pay him for the said horse one hundred, the word dollars would be supplied. 1 3d. When the words, taken in one sense, go to defeat the contract, while they are susceptible of another construction which will give effect to the design of the parties, and not destroy it, the latter will be preferred. Cowp. 714. 8.-2. The plain, ordinary, and popular sense of the words, is to be preferred to the more unusual, etymological, and recondite meaning or even to the literal, and strictly grammatical construction of the words, where these last would lead to any inefficacy or inconsistency. 9.-3. When a peculiar meaning has been stamped upon the words by the usage of a particular trade or place in which the contract occurs, such technical or peculiar meaning will prevail. 4 East, R. 135. It is as if the parties in framing their contract had made use of a foreign language, which the court is not bound to understand, but which on evidence of its import, must be applied. But the expression so made technical and appropriate, and the usage by which it has become so, must be so clear that the court cannot entertain a doubt upon the subject. Technical words are to be taken according to their approved and known use in the trade in which the contract is entered into, or to which it relates, unless they have manifestly been understood in another sense by the parties. 10.-4. The place where a contract has been made, is a most material consideration in its construction. Generally its validity is to be decided by the law of the place where it is made; if valid there, it is considered valid every where. Its construction is to be according to the laws of the place where it is made for example, where a note was given in China, payable eighteen months after date, without any stipulation as to the amount of interest, the court allowed the Chinese interest of one per centum per month from the expiration of the eighteen mouths. 11.-5. Previous conversations, and all that passes in the course of correspondence or negotiation leading to the contract, are entirely superseded by the written agreement. The parties having agreed to reduce the terms of their contract to writing, the document is constituted as the only true and final exposition of their admissions and intentions; and nothing which does not appear in the written agreement will be considered as a part of the contract. But this rule admits of some exceptions; as, where a declaration is made before a deed is executed, showing the design with which it was to be executed, in cases of frauds; and trusts, though no trust was declared in the writing.12.-6. All contracts made in general terms, in the ordinary course of trade, are presumed to incorporate the usage and custom of the trade to which they relate. The parties are presumed to know such usages, and not to intend to exclude them. But when there is a special stipulation in opposition to, or inconsistent with the custom, that will of course prevail. Holt’s R. 95. 13.-7. When there is an ambiguity which impedes the execution of the contract, it is first, if possible, to be resolved, on a view of the whole contract or instrument, aided by the admitted views of the parties, and, if indispensable, parol evidence may be admitted to clear it, consistently with the words. 14.-8. When the words cannot be reconciled with any practicable or consistent interpretation, they are to be considered as not made use of “perinde sunt ac si scripts non essent.”
Law Dictionary – Alternative Legal Definition
The process, or the art of determining the sense, real meaning, or proper explanation of obscure or ambiguous terms or provisions in a statute, written instrument, or oral agreement, or the application of such subject to the case in question, by reasoning In the light derived from extraneous connected circumstances or laws or writings bearing upon the same or a connected matter, or by seeking and applying the probable aim and purpose of the provision. It is to be noted that this term is properly distinguished from interpretation, although the two are often used synonymously. In strictness, Interpretation is limited to exploring the written text, while construction goes beyond and may call In the aid of extrinsic considerations, as above indicated. Strict and liberal construction. Strict construction is construction of a statute or other instrument according to its letter, which recognizes nothin
g that is not expressed, takes the language used in its exact and technical meaning, and admits no equi table considerations or implications. Paving Co. v. Watt 51 La. Ann. 1345, 26 South. 70; Stanyan v. Peterborough, 69 N. II. 372, 46.Atl. 191. Liberal construction, on the other hand, expands the meaning of the statute to meet cases which are clearly within the spirit or reason of the law, or within the evil which it was designed te remedy, provided such an interpretation is not inconsistent with the language used; it resolves all reasonable doubts in favor of the applicability of the statute to the particular case. Black, lnterp. Laws, 282; Lawrence v. McCalmont, 2 How. 449, 11 L. Ed. 326; In re Johnson’s Estate. 98 Cal. 531, 33 Pac. 460, 21 L. R. A. 380; Shorey v. Wyckoff, 1 Wash. T. 351. Construction, court of. A court of equity or of common law, as the case may be, is called the court of construction with regard to wills, as opposed to the court of probate, whose duty is to decide whether an instrument be a will at all. Now, the court of probate may decide that a given instrument is a will, and yet the court of construction may decide that it has no operation, by reason of perpetuities, illegality, uncertainty, etc Wharton. Equitable construction. A construction of a law, rule, or remedy which has regard more to the equities of the particular transaction or state of affairs involved than to the strict application of the rule or remedy; that is, a liberal and extensive construction, as opposed to a literal and restrictive.