Jersey Law 17/1954
INTERPRETATION (JERSEY) LAW, 1954
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A LAW for
promoting brevity and uniformity in enactments, sanctioned by Order of Her
Majesty in Council of the
15th day of JULY, 1954.
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(Registered on the 21st day of August, 1954).
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STATES OF JERSEY
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The 21st day of May,
1954.
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THE STATES, subject to the sanction of
Her Most Excellent Majesty in Council, have adopted the following Law: -
ARTICLE
1
DEFINITIONS WITH REGARD TO ENACTMENTS
(1) In
this Law and in every other enactment (as hereby defined) whether passed before
or after the commencement of this Law, the expression “enactment”,
unless a contrary intention appears, shall mean any provision of any Law passed
by the States and confirmed by Her Majesty in Council and any provision of any
regulations, order, rules, bye-laws, scheme or other instrument passed or made
in the Island under the authority of any Order in Council or under any such Law
as aforesaid.
(2) For
the purposes of this Law and of every other enactment, whether passed before or
after the commencement of this Law, unless a contrary intention appears, a Law
shall not be deemed to have been passed until it has been confirmed by Her
Majesty in Council and registered by the Royal Court.
(3) In
this Law and in every other enactment, whether passed before or after the
commencement of this Law, references to the passing or repeal of an enactment
shall be construed, where appropriate, as references to the making or
rescission of that enactment.
(4) In
this Law and in every other enactment, whether passed before or after the
commencement of this Law, the expression “commencement”, when used
with reference to an enactment, shall mean the time at which the enactment
comes into operation.
(5) Where
an enactment is expressed to come into operation on a particular day, it shall
be construed as coming into operation immediately on the expiration of the
previous day.
ARTICLE
2
RULES AS TO GENDER, NUMBER AND GRAMMATICAL VARIATIONS OF WORDS DEFINED
In this Law and in every other enactment, whether passed before or
after the commencement of this Law, unless the contrary intention appears
–
(a) words importing the masculine
gender shall include females;
(b) words in the singular shall
include the plural and words in the plural shall include the singular; and
(c) grammatical variations of
words to which definitions are assigned shall be construed in accordance with
the definitions.
ARTICLE
3
APPLICATION OF PENAL ENACTMENTS TO BODIES CORPORATE
In the construction of every enactment relating to a punishable
offence, whether passed before or after the commencement of this Law, the
expression “person” shall, unless the contrary intention appears,
include a body corporate:
Provided that nothing in this Article shall render any body
corporate liable, in respect of any act or omission occurring before the date
of the commencement of this Law, to any criminal proceedings to which that body
corporate would not have been liable before that date.
ARTICLE
4
MEANING OF CERTAIN WORDS
(1) In
every enactment, whether passed before or after the commencement of this Law,
the following expressions shall, unless the contrary intention appears, have
the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them that is to say –
(i) “land”
shall include houses and other buildings;
(ii) “midnight”,
in relation to a day, shall mean the last moment of that day;
(iii) “misdemeanour”
shall mean a “délit”;
(iv) “month”
shall mean calendar month;
(v) “oath”
and “affidavit” shall, in the case of persons for the time being
allowed by law to affirm or declare instead of swearing, include affirmation
and declaration, and the expression “swear” shall, in the like
case, include affirm and declare;
(vi) “pound”,
in relation to money, shall mean pound sterling;
(vii) “registered
contract” shall mean a contract registered in the Public Registry of
Contracts;
(viii) “word”
shall include a letter, numeral or other symbol.
ARTICLE
5
EFFECT OF REPEAL
(1) Where
an enactment, whether passed before or after the commencement of this Law,
repeals a repealing enactment, it shall not be construed as reviving any
enactment previously repealed, unless words are added reviving that enactment.
(2) Where
an enactment, whether passed before or after the commencement of this Law,
repeals wholly or partially any former enactment and substitutes provisions for
the enactment repealed, the repealed provisions shall remain in force until the
substituted provisions come into operation.
ARTICLE
6
MEANING OF “CONSULAR OFFICER”
In every enactment, whether passed before or after the commencement
of this Law, unless the contrary intention appears, the expression
“consular officer” shall include consul-general, consul,
vice-consul, consular agent, and any person for the time being authorized to
discharge the duties of consul-general, consul or vice-consul.
ARTICLE
7
JUDICIAL DEFINITIONS
In every enactment, whether passed before or after the commencement
of this Law, the following expressions shall, unless the contrary intention appears,
have the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them, that is to say –
(i) “the
Petty Debts Court” shall mean the Court known as the “Cour pour le
Recouvrement de Menues Dettes” constituted in pursuance of the “Loi
sur la Cour pour le Recouvrement de Menues Dettes”, confirmed by Order of
Her Majesty in Council of the ninth day of May, 1891;
(ii) “the
Police Court” shall mean the Court known as the “Cour pour la
Répression des Moindres Délits” constituted in pursuance of
the “Acte établissant une Cour pour la répression des
moindres délits”, confirmed by Order of Her Majesty in Council of
the twenty-ninth day of December, 1853;
(iii) “solicitor” shall
mean “écivain de la Cour Royale”.
ARTICLE
8
GEOGRAPHICAL DEFINITIONS
In this Law and in every other enactment, whether passed before or
after the commencement of this Law, the following expressions shall, unless the
contrary intention appears, have the meanings hereby respectively assigned to
them, that is to say –
(i) “the
Bailiwick” and “the Island” shall mean the Island of Jersey
and its dependencies;
(ii) “British
Islands” shall mean the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the Isle
of Man.
ARTICLE
9
MEANING OF “PERSON”
In this Law and in every other enactment, whether passed before or
after the commencement of this Law, the expression “person” shall,
unless the contrary intention appears, include any body of persons corporate or
unincorporate.
ARTICLE
10
MEANING OF “WRITING”
In every enactment, whether passed before or after the commencement
of this Law, expressions referring to writing shall, unless the contrary
intention appears, be construed as including references to printing,
lithography, photography and other modes of representing or reproducing words
in a visible form.
ARTICLE
11
MEANING OF “WARRANTY”
In every enactment, whether passed before or after the commencement
of this Law, the expression “warranty” shall, unless the contrary
intention appears, mean an agreement with reference to goods which are the
subject of an agreement of sale, but collateral to the main purpose of such
agreement, the breach of which gives rise to a claim for damages, but not to a
right to reject the goods and treat the agreement as repudiated.
ARTICLE
12
MEANING OF SERVICE BY POST
Where an enactment, whether passed before or after the commencement
of this Law, authorizes or requires any document to be served by post, whether
the expression “serve”, “give” or “send”,
or any other expression is used, then, unless the contrary intention appears,
the service shall be deemed to be effected by properly addressing, prepaying
and posting a letter containing the document, and, unless the contrary is
proved, to have been effected at the time at which the letter would be
delivered in the ordinary course of post.
ARTICLE
13
MEANING OF BANKRUPTCY
In every enactment, whether passed before or after the commencement
of this Law, references to a person becoming bankrupt shall, unless the
contrary intention appears, be construed as references to either –
(a) the grant by the Royal Court
of an application made by that person to place his property under the control
of the Court (“de remettre ses biens entre les mains de la
Justice”); or
(b) the declaring of the property
of that person to be “en désastre”, or
(c) the grant by the Royal Court
of an application made by that person to make a general cession of his property
(“de faire cession générale de tous ses biens-meubles et
héritages”); or
(d) a decision of the Royal Court
adjudging the property of that person to be renounced (“adjugée
renoncée”); or
(e) the grant by the Royal Court
of an application made by that person to make a composition with his creditors
in virtue of the Law entitled “Loi sur les Concordats entre
Débiteurs et Créanciers”, confirmed by Order of Her Majesty
in Council of the twenty-sixth day of June, 1867; or
(f) in the case of a
company, the dissolution or winding up of the company either compulsorily or
voluntarily (but not where the company is wound up voluntarily merely for the
purposes of reconstruction or of amalgamation with another company), or the
appointment of a receiver or manager of the company’s business or
undertaking;
and references to bankruptcy shall be construed accordingly.
ARTICLE
14
CONSTRUCTION OF SUBORDINATE ENACTMENTS
Where any enactment, whether passed before or after the
commencement of this Law, confers power to pass any other enactment,
expressions used in that other enactment if it is passed after the commencement
of this Law, shall, unless the contrary intention appears, have the same
respective meanings as in the enactment conferring the power.
ARTICLE
15
CONSTRUCTION OF PROVISIONS AS TO EXERCISE OF POWERS AND DUTIES
(1) Where
an enactment, whether passed before or after the commencement of this Law,
confers a power or imposes a duty, then, unless the contrary intention appears,
the power may be exercised and the duty shall be performed from time to time as
occasion requires.
(2) Where
an enactment, whether passed before or after the commencement of this Law,
confers a power or imposes a duty on the holder of an office as such, then,
unless the contrary intention appears, the power may be exercised and the duty
shall be performed by the holder for the time being of the office, or, in case
of his absence or incapacity, by the person for the time being performing the
duty of that office.
(3) Where
an enactment, whether passed before or after the commencement of this Law,
confers a power to pass any other enactment, the power shall, unless the
contrary intention appears, be construed as including a power, exercisable in
the like manner and subject to the like consent and conditions, if any, to
repeal, rescind, amend or vary that other enactment.
ARTICLE
16
OFFENCES UNDER TWO OR MORE ENACTMENTS, ETC
Where an act or omission constitutes an offence under two or more
enactments, or both under an enactment and under the customary law of the
Island, whether any such enactment was passed before or after the commencement
of this Law, the offender shall, unless the contrary intention appears, be liable
to be prosecuted and punished under either or any of those enactments or under
the customary law, but shall not be liable to be punished twice for the same
offence.
ARTICLE
17
MEASUREMENT OF DISTANCE
In the measurement of any distance for the purposes of any
enactment, whether passed before or after the commencement of this Law, that
distance shall, unless the contrary intention appears, be measured in a
straight line on a horizontal plane.
ARTICLE
18
EXERCISE OF STATUTORY POWERS BEFORE COMMENCEMENT OF ENACTMENT
(1) Where
any Law passed after the commencement of this Law is not to come into operation
immediately on the passing thereof, and confers power to make any appointment,
to pass any enactment, to give notices, to prescribe forms or to do any other thing
for the purposes of the Law, that power may, unless the contrary intention
appears, be exercised at any time after the passing of the Law, so far as may
be necessary or expedient for the purpose of bringing the Law into operation at
the date of the commencement thereof, subject to the restriction that any
enactment passed under the power shall not, unless the contrary intention
appears in the Law, or the contrary is necessary for bringing the Law into
operation, come into operation until the Law comes into operation.
(2) This
Article shall apply in relation to Regulations passed by the States in like
manner as it applies in relation to a Law.
ARTICLE
19
EFFECT OF REPEAL AND RE-ENACTMENT, AND EXPIRY
(1) Where
any enactment, whether passed before or after the commencement of this Law,
repeals and re-enacts, with or without modification, any provisions of a former
enactment, references in any other enactment to the provisions so repealed
shall, unless the contrary intention appears, be construed as references to the
provisions so re-enacted.
(2) Where
any enactment, whether passed before or after the commencement of this Law,
repeals any other enactment, then, unless the contrary intention appears, the
repeal shall not –
(a) revive anything not in force
or not existing at the time at which the repeal takes effect; or
(b) affect the previous operation
of any enactment so repealed or anything duly done or suffered under any
enactment so repealed; or
(c) affect any right,
privilege, obligation or liability acquired, accrued or incurred under any
enactment so repealed; or
(d) affect any penalty,
forfeiture or punishment incurred in respect of any offence committed against
any enactment so repealed; or
(e) affect any
investigation, legal proceedings or remedy in respect of any such right,
privilege, obligation, liability, penalty, forfeiture or punishment as
aforesaid;
and any such investigation, legal proceeding or remedy may be
instituted, continued or enforced, and any such penalty, forfeiture or
punishment may be imposed as if the repealing enactment had not been passed.
(3) The
provisions of paragraph (2) of this Article shall apply in relation to an
enactment which has expired in like manner as they apply in relation to an
enactment which has been repealed.
ARTICLE
20
SHORT TITLE
This Law may be cited as the Interpretation (Jersey) Law, 1954.