CONSTRUCTION

construction,n.1. The act of building by combining or arranging parts or elements; the thing so built. 2. The act or process of interpreting or explaining the sense or intention of a writing (usu. a constitution, statute, or instrument); the ascertainment of a document’s meaning in accordance with judicial standards. [Cases: Contracts  143; Statutes  174–278.C.J.S. Contracts § 302; Statutes §§ 306–431.] — construct (for sense 1), vb. — construe (for sense 2), vb. “Construction, as applied to written law, is the art or process of discovering and expounding the meaning and intention of the authors of the law with respect to its application to a given case, where that intention is rendered doubtful either by reason of apparently conflicting provisions or directions, or by reason of the fact that the given case is not explicitly provided for in the law.” Henry Campbell Black, Handbook on the Construction and In-terpretation of the Laws 1 (1896). “Some authors have attempted to introduce a distinction between ‘interpretation’ and ‘construction.’ Etymologically there is, perhaps, such a distinction; but it has not been accepted by the profession. For practical purposes any such distinction may be ignored, in view of the real object of both interpretation and construction, which is merely to ascertain the meaning and will of the lawmaking body, in order that it may be enforced.” William M. Lile et al., Brief Making and the Use of Law Books 337 (3d ed. 1914). “There is no explanation of the distinction between interpretation and construction [in Blackstone], nor can it be inferred from the matters dealt with under each head. The distinction is drawn in some modern works, but it is not taken in this book because it lacks an agreed basis. Some writers treat interpretation as something which is only called for when there is a dispute about the meaning of statutory words, while speaking of construction as a process to which all statutes, like all other writings, are necessarily subject when read by anyone. Others treat interpretation as something which is mainly concerned with the meaning of statutory words, while regarding construction as a process which mainly relates to the ascertainment of the intention of the legislature.” Rupert Cross, Statutory Interpretation 18 (1976). construction ut res magis valeat quam pereat (k<<schwa>>n-str<<schwa>>k-sh<< schwa>>n <<schwa>>t rays [or reez or rez] may-jis vay-lee-at kwam peer-ee-at). [Latin “a construction that gives effect to the matter rather than having it fail”] A construction arrived at when alternative readings are possible, one of which (usu. the broader reading) would achieve the manifest purpose of the document and one of which (usu. the narrower reading) would reduce it to futility or absurdity, whereby the interpreter chooses the one that gives effect to the document’s purpose. contemporaneous construction.An interpretation given at or near the time when a writing was prepared, usu. by one or more persons involved in its preparation. — Also termed practical construction; practical interpretation; contemporaneous and practical interpretation. See CONTEMPORANEOUS-CONSTRUCTION DOCTRINE. [Cases: Contracts  170; Statutes  218, 219(2). C.J.S. Contracts § 340; Statutes §§ 342, 344.] liberal construction.An interpretation that applies a writing in light of the situation presented and that tends to effectuate the spirit and purpose of the writing. — Also termed equitable construction; loose construction; broad interpretation. [Cases: Contracts  143. C.J.S. Contracts § 302.] “Liberal construction … expands the meaning of the statute to embrace cases which are clearly within the spirit or reason of the law, or within the evil which it was designed to remedy, provided such an interpretation is not in-consistent with the language used. It resolves all reasonable doubts in favor of the applicability of the statute to the particular case.” William M. Lile et al., Brief Making and the Use of Law Books 343 (3d ed. 1914). literal construction.See strict construction. practical construction.See contemporaneous construction. purposive construction (p<<schwa>>r-p<<schwa>>-siv). An interpretation that looks to the “evil” that the statute is trying to correct (i.e., the statute’s purpose). — Also termed teleological interpretation. See liberal construction. statutory construction.See STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION. strict construction. 1. An interpretation that considers only the literal words of a writing. — Also termed literal construction; literal interpretation. See STRICT CONSTRUCTIONISM. [Cases: Contracts  143. C.J.S. Contracts § 302.] 2. A construction that considers words narrowly, usu. in their historical context. • This type of construction treats statutory and contractual words with highly restrictive readings. — Also termed strict inter-pretation. 3. The philosophy underlying strict interpretation of statutes; STRICT CONSTRUCTIONISM. “Strict construction of a statute is that which refuses to expand the law by implications or equitable considerations, but confines its operation to cases which are clearly within the letter of the statute, as well as within its spirit or reason, not so as to defeat the manifest purpose of the Legislature, but so as to resolve all reasonable doubts against the applicability of the statute to the particular case.” William M. Lile et al., Brief Making and the Use of Law Books 343 (3d ed. 1914). “Strict interpretation is an equivocal expression, for it means either literal or narrow. When a provision is ambi-guous, one of its meanings may be wider than the other, and the strict (i.e., narrow) sense is not necessarily the strict (i.e., literal) sense.” John Salmond, Jurisprudence 171 n. (t) (Glanville L. Williams ed., 10th ed. 1947). [Blacks Law 8th]