The Interpretation Act 1978 is an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...

. The Act makes provision for the

interpretation Interpretation may refer to: Culture * Aesthetic interpretation, an explanation of the meaning of a work of art * Allegorical interpretation, an approach that assumes a text should not be interpreted literally * Dramatic Interpretation, an event ...

of Acts of Parliament, Measures of the General Synod of the Church of England, Measures of the

Church Assembly The General Synod is the tricameral deliberative and legislative organ of the Church of England. The synod was instituted in 1970, replacing the Church Assembly, and is the culmination of a process of rediscovering self-government for the Church ...

, subordinate legislation, "deeds and other instruments and documents," Acts of the Scottish Parliament and instruments made thereunder (added 1998), and Measures and Acts of the National Assembly for Wales and instruments made thereunder. The Act makes provision in relation to: the construction of certain words and phrases, words of enactment, amendment or repeal of Acts in the Session they were passed, judicial notice, commencement, statutory powers and duties, the effect of repeals, and duplicated offences. The Act repealed the whole of the Interpretation Act 1889, except for sections 13(4) and 13(5) and 13(14) in their application to

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

. The

Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 (c 33) (NI) is an Act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland. It replaces the Interpretation Act 1889 for Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Sco ...

applies in the same way to Acts of the Parliament of Northern Ireland or an Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly. The Interpretation Act 1978 applies to itself and to any Act passed after the commencement of the Act (section 22) and, to the extent specified i
Part I
of Schedule 2, to Acts passed before the commencement of the Act. The Interpretation Act 1978 binds the Crown.

Section 4

This section replaces the corresponding provision of the

Acts of Parliament (Commencement) Act 1793 The Acts of Parliament (Commencement) Act 1793 (33 Geo. 3 c. 13) is an Act of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain which requires that the clerk of the Parliaments endorse every act of Parliament with the date on which the act passed ...

. See

Coming into force In law, coming into force or entry into force (also called commencement) is the process by which legislation, regulations, treaties and other legal instruments come to have legal force and effect. The term is closely related to the date of ...

Section 5

Section 5 and Schedule 1 provide definitions of certain words and phrases.

Section 6

Unless it is clear there is a contrary intention, wherever in any

Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of parliame ...

or Statutory Instrument there are words importing the masculine gender, the words should be construed to incorporate the feminine and vice versa. Also, words in the singular include the plural, and as with the interchangeability of words importing gender so it is with the plural and singular.

Section 7

This section replaces section 26 of the Interpretation Act 1889.

Section 8

Section 8 specifies that, in general, a measurement of

distance Distance is a numerical or occasionally qualitative measurement of how far apart objects or points are. In physics or everyday usage, distance may refer to a physical length or an estimation based on other criteria (e.g. "two counties over"). ...

refers to measurement in a straight line on a horizontal plane.

Section 16 – General savings

The following cases are relevant to this section: *''Hough v Windus'' (1884) 12 QBD 224, CA *''R v Fisher (Charles)'' 9691 WLR 8, CA *''R v West London Stipendiary Magistrate, ex parte Simeon'' 983AC 234, HL

Section 18 – Duplicated offences

Section 18 provides: This section replaces section 33 of the Interpretation Act 1889. Humphreys J. said that that section did not add anything to the

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omniprese ...

, or detract anything from it.

"... shall not be liable to be punished more than once for the same offence"

The words "same offence" at the end of section 18 do not mean "same act" or "same cause". A person may be punished more than once for the same act. Two prosecutions for a single false statement in a brochure is not oppressive. See also ''Williams v Hallam'' (1943) 112 LJKB 353, (1943) 59 TLR 287, (1943) 41 LGR 165.

"Act"

The word "Act" means

. It includes a local and personal or private Act. A reference to an Act in this section is a reference to an Act to which this section applies. This section applies to Acts whenever passed. It applies to Measures of the General Synod of the Church of England, and, so far as it relates to Acts passed before 1 January 1979, to measures of the Church Assembly passed after 28 May 1925, as it applies to Acts. It applies to an Act of the Scottish Parliament as it applies to an "Act".The Interpretation Act 1978, section 23A(2)(a) (as inserted by the Scotland Act 1998, section 125 and Schedule 8, paragraph 16(2)) For the application of this section to subordinate legislation, see section 23. And see also section 23A(2)(b).

Section 19

For section 19(1), see Citation of United Kingdom legislation#Interpretation of citations by year, statute, session, chapter, number or letter

Section 23A

This section was inserted by section 125 of, an
paragraph 16(2)
of Schedule 8 to, the Scotland Act 1998.

References

* Halsbury's Statutes. Fourth Edition. 2008 Reissue. Volume 41. Page 796. *Archbold Criminal Pleading, Evidence and Practice. 1999. Appendix A. *Current Law Statutes Annotated 1978

External links

*
The Interpretation Act 1978
as amended from the National Archives.
The Interpretation Act 1978
as originally enacted from the National Archives. {{UK legislation 1978 in law United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1978