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Legal interpretation in South Africa refers to the juridical understanding of South African legislation and case law, and the rules and principles used to construct its meaning for judicial purposes.〔Botha 1.〕 Broadly speaking there are three means by which and through which South African scholars and jurists construe their country's statutory law: linguistics or semantics, common law and jurisprudence. Although statutory interpretation usually involves a personal predisposition to the text, the goal is generally to "concretise" it: to harmonise text and purpose. This is the final step in the interpretative process.〔Botha 5.〕 Statutory interpretation is broadly teleological, comprising as it does first the evaluation and then the application of enacted law. == Statute law == Statute law is written law enacted by a person or a body empowered by the Constitution or other legislation to do so.〔Botha 11.〕 The Interpretation Act〔Act 33 of 1957.〕 defines it as "any law, proclamation, ordinance, Act of Parliament or other enactment having the force of law."〔s 2.〕 The Constitution of South Africa, which has the force of supreme law,〔s 2.〕 and as such sets the standards and requirements for the construction and construal of statutes, also provides a definition of statute law, distinguishing between national and provincial legislation: * National legislation: * * "subordinate legislation made in terms of an Act of Parliament"; and * * "legislation that was in force when the Constitution took effect and that is administered by the national government." * Provincial legislation: * * "subordinate legislation made in terms of a provincial Act"; and * * "legislation that was in force when the Constitution took effect and that is administered by a provincial government."〔s 239.〕 There are a large number and variety of statutes in South Africa—including Acts, ordinances, proclamations, by-laws, rules and regulations.〔Botha 5.〕〔Constitution ss 101(3), 140(3).〕 As of 1993, statute law is to be found on all three levels of government (national, provincial and local), and as such affects every governmental sphere, and although generally referred to as "public law" may be applicable to any legal area. Statutes derive binding force from their creators or legislators, who are empowered by the Constitution, and serve broadly to regulate the modern state. The Constitution provides a guide on how to read statutes and construe the common law: "When interpreting any legislation, and when developing the common law or customary law, every court, tribunal or forum must promote the spirit, purport and objects of the Bill of Rights."〔s 39(2).〕 In general, its function is to promote the public interest. Among the advantages of statute law is that legislation is accessible and therefore broadly "knowable;" that it is dynamic and flexible, and so easily amended; and that it promotes legal certainty, with a formal procedure required for its repeal. Among its disadvantages is that, under a common-law system, legal certainty is frequently an illusion; it often falls to the courts to give "official" meaning. There is also a danger of over-legislating, which can limit the development of a legal system and sometimes even undermine basic principles of fairness and justice, as with the misuse or abuse of legislative power for the ends of social engineering. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Legal interpretation in South Africa」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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