Heydon’s /Mischief Rule

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..... - SUPREME COURT , has observed thus: 23. It is a sound rule of construction of a statute firmly established in England as far back as 1584 when Heydon's case [3 Co. Rep 7a : 76 ER 637] was decided that- for the sure and true interpretation of all statutes in general (be they penal or beneficial, restrictive or enlarging of the common law) four things are to be discerned and considered: 1st. Wh .....

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..... r General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks Earl of Halsbury reaffirmed the Rule as follows: My Lords, it appears to me that to construe the Statute in question, it is not only legitimate but highly convenient to refer both to the former Act and to the ascertained evils to which the former Act had given rise, and to the later Act which provided the remedy. These three being compared I cannot dou .....

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