AN ORDINANCE FOR DEFINING THE MEANING OF CERTAIN TERMS AND FOR SHORTENING THE LANGUAGE USED IN ENACTMENTS AND OTHER WRITTEN LAWS AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
[3rd December
1. This Ordinance may be cited as the Interpretation Ordinance.
2. In this Ordinance and in every written law, whether made before or after the commencement of this Ordinance, unless there be something repugnant in the subject or context-
(a) "abet" with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, shall have the same meaning as in the Penal Code;
(b) " Act" or " Act of Parliament-"
(i) where occurring in any written law enacted prior to the 14th day of October, 1947, shall mean an Act of the parliament of the United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland;
(ii) where occurring in any written law enacted on or after that day, shall mean an Act of the Parliament of Ceylon;
(c) " Attorney-General " shall mean the Attorney-General of Ceylon, and shall include an acting Attorney-General;
(d) "Chapter", "Part " , section", and "Schedule" shall denote respectively a chapter, part, and section of, and schedule to, the enactment in which the word occurs, and " subsection " shall denote a subsection of the section in which the word occurs;
(e) "commencement", used with reference to an enactment shall mean the day on which the enactment comes into force ;
(f) "crown counsel" shall include a senior crown counsel;
(g) " enactment" shall include an ordinance as well as an act of ceylon;
(h) " Gazette " or " Government Gazette " shall mean the Gazette published by the order of the Government of Ceylon, and shall include any Extraordinary Gazette so published;
(i)[3] " Governor-General " or "Governor" shall mean the Governor-General and Commander in Chief of the Island of Ceylon and shall include the officer for the time being Administering the Government of the Island, and to the extent to which a Deputy for the Governor-General is authorized to act, that Deputy;
(j) "His Majesty" and "Her Majesty" shall include the heirs and successors to the Crown according to law;
(k) [3]"Imperial Parliament" shall mean the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland;
"Parliament" shall-
(i) where it occurs in any provision of return law enacted prior to the 14th day of October, 1947, mean the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland;
(ii) where it occurs in any provision of written law, enacted in Ceylon after that day, mean the Parliament of Ceylon;
(l) "King" or "Queen" shall mean the Sovereign for the time being of Ceylon;
(m) " master " used with reference to a ship shall mean any person(except a pilot) having for the time being control or charge of a ship;
(n) " Member of Parliament" shall mean a member of the House of Representatives;
(o)[1] " Minister " used with reference to any subject or function of Government shall mean the Minister to whom that subject or function has been assigned by the Prime Minister, and " Ministry" shall be construed accordingly;
(p)"month" shall mean a calendar month, unless words be added showing lunar months to be intended;
(q) " 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 " swear " shall, in the like case, include affirm and declare :
(r) [3]"Ordinance" shall mean an Ordinance of the Legislature of Ceylon as established by or under any order of his Majesty in Council in force prior to the Ceylon (Constitution) order in Council, 1946:
Provided that wherever in any written Law the term "Ordinance" is used in a general sense and without reference to any particular legislation, or is used to refer to legislation to be passed subsequently to the coming into effect of the law in which the term occurs , or to legislation for the time being in force, the term shall include an Act of Parliament of Ceylon;
(s)[1] " Permanent Secretary" , " Deputy Permanent Secretary" , and "Assistant Permanent Secretary", used with reference to any subject or function, shall mean respectively the Permanent Secretary, Deputy Permanent Secretary, or Assistant Permanent Secretary to the Ministry in charge of that subject or function;
(t) "person" includes any body of persons corporate or unincorporate;
(u) "prescribed" shall mean prescribed by the enactment in which the word occurs or by any rules, duly made thereunder;
(v) " public holiday " shall have the same mean any day which is to be observed as a public Holiday under the provisions of the Holidays ordinance;
(w) " registered " used with reference to a document shall mean registered under the provisions of the law for the time being applicable to the registration of such document;
(x) "rigorous imprisonment", "simple imprisonment ", and "imprisonment of either description " shall have the same meaning as in the Penal Code, and " imprisonment " shall mean simple imprisonment;
(y)[1] "Senator" shall mean a person who is for the time being a member the senate;
(z) " sign " with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, shall, with reference to a person who is unable to write his name, include "mark" with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions;
(aa) "Solicitor-General" shall mean the Solicitor-General of Ceylon, and shall include an acting Solicitor-General, Deputy Solicitor-General, and an acting Solicitor-Deputy General of Ceylon;
(bb) " the Government ", where no other meaning is indicated by any descriptive or qualifying words or by the context, and " the Ceylon Government " or " the Government of Ceylon " or " the Government of this Island " or " the Government of the Island of Ceylon " shall notwithstanding any provision of written law to contrary, mean the cabinet of Ministers appointed under the Ceylon(Constitution and Independence) Orders in Council, 1946 and 1947;
(cc) "the Island" and "this Island", " Ceylon " and " the island of Ceylon " shall be held to mean the Island of Ceylon and dependencies thereof;
(dd) " United kingdom" shall mean the United kingdom of Great Britain and the Northern Island;
(ee) "value " used with reference to a suit shall mean the amount or value of the subject-matter of the suit;
(ff)" will " shall include a codicil;
[ 2, 2 of 1947]
(gg) " written law" shall mean and include all Ordinances, and Acts of the Parliament, and all orders, proclamations, letters patent, rules, by-laws, regulations, warrants and process of every kind made or issued by any body or person having authority under any statutory or other enactment to make or issue the same in and for Ceylon or Ceylon or any part thereof, and the Minutes on Pensions, but shall include any statute of the United Kingdom extending expressly or by necessary implication to Ceylon, nor any order of the Queen in Council, Royal charter, or Royal letters patent (Parliamentary Elections) Order-in-Council 1946;
(hh) words importing the masculine gender shall be taken to include females ;
(ii) words in the singular number shall include the plural, and vice versa.
Saving of rights of the Crown.
3. No enactment shall in any manner affect the right of the Crown unless it is therein expressly stated, or unless it appears by necessary implication that the Crown is bound thereby.
Exercise of powers and duties.
4. Where any enactment or written law, whether passed or made before or after the commencement of this Ordinance, confers a power or imposes a duty, then, unless a contrary intention appears, the power may be exercised and the duty shall be performed from time to time as occasion requires.
Meaning of " the principal Ordinance , " the principal enactment , and " the principal Act
5. [3]
(1) In any Ordinance which amends any other Ordinance, the expression " the principal Ordinance " or shall mean that other Ordinance that is to say, the Ordinance which is amended.
(2) In any Act of Parliament which Ordinance, the expression " the principal Ordinance " or " the principal enactment " shall mean the Ordinance which is amended.
(3) In any Act of Parliament which amends any other Act of Parliament, the expression " the principal Act " shall mean that other Act, that is to say, the Act of Parliament which is amended.
(4) Every amending Ordinance or Act shall be read as one with the principal Ordinance, enactment or Act, to which it relates.
Effect of repeal or expiration of written law.
(1) Whenever any written law repealing either in whole or part a former written law is itself repealed, such repeal shall not, in the absence of any express provision to that effect, revive or be deemed to have revived the repealed written law, or any right, office, privilege, matter, or thing not in force or existing when the repealing written law comes into operation.
(2)Whenever any written law repeals in whole or part a former written law and substitutes therefor some new provision, such repeal shall not take effect until such substituted provision comes into operation.
(3)Whenever any written law repeals either in whole or part a former written law, such repeal shall not, in the absence of any express provision to that effect, affect or be deemed to have affected-
(a) the past operation of or anything duly done or suffered under the repealed written law ;
(b) any offence committed, any right, liberty, or penalty acquired or incurred under the repealed written law ;
(c) any action, proceeding, or thing pending or incompleted when the repealing written law comes into operation, but every such action, proceeding, or thing may be carried on and completed as if there had been no such repeal.
[ 3, 5 of 1954.]
(4) Subsection (3) shall apply in the case of the expiration of any written law in like manner as though that written law had been repealed and had not expired.
(5) This section shall apply to written laws made as well before as after the commencement of this Ordinance.
Making of rules in interval between passing and commencement of enactment.
7. Where by any enactment which is not to come into force immediately on the passing thereof a power is conferred on the Governor-General or any other body or person, to make rules or to issue orders with respect to the application of such enactment, or with respect to the establishment of any office or the appointment of any officer thereunder, or with respect to the person by whom, or the time when, or the place where, or the manner in which, or the fees for which anything is to be done under such enactment, the power may be exercised at any time after the passing of such enactment, but rules or orders so made or issued shall not take effect till the commencement of such enactment.
[ 4,5 of 1954.]
In this section, "rules" includes regulations and by-laws.
(1) Where a limited time from any date or from the happening of any event is appointed or allowed by any written law for the doing of any act or the taking of any proceeding in a court or office, and the last day of the limited time is a day on which the court or office is closed, then the act or proceeding shall be considered as done or taken in due time if it is done or taken on the next day thereafter on which the court or office is open.
(2)Where by any written law any act or proceeding is directed or allowed to be done or taken in a court or office on a certain day, then if the court or office is closed on that day the act or proceeding shall be considered as done or taken in due time if it is done or taken on the next day thereafter on which the court or office is open.
(3) Where a limited time not exceeding six days from any date or from the happening of any event is appointed or allowed by any written law for the doing of any act or the taking of any proceeding in a court or office, every intervening Sunday or public holiday shall be excluded from the computation of such time.
(4) Where by any written law a day is named for the doing or taking of any act or proceeding not being an act or proceeding to be done or taken in a court or office or for the happening of any event, and that day falls upon a Sunday or public holiday, such written law shall be read as if the first lawful day next succeeding such or Sunday or public holiday had been named.
(5)This section shall apply to written laws made as well before as after the commencement of this Ordinance.
Provisions as to offences under two or more laws.
9. Where any act or omission constitutes an offence under two or more laws, whether either or any of such laws came into force before or after the commencement of this Ordinance, the offender shall, unless the contrary intention appears, be liable to be prosecuted and punished under either or any of those laws, but shall not be liable to be punished twice for the same offence.
Construction of enactments declaring offence summarily triable.
10. Where in any enactment passed after the 16th day of January, 1912, it is declared that any offence shall be triable summarily, or by a Magistrate, or words are used implying that any offence shall be triable summarily or by a Magistrate, in any such case, unless the contrary intention appears, the Magistrate trying the case shall be deemed to have power to inflict the full penalty prescribed for the offence, notwithstanding any limitation of his ordinary powers or jurisdiction.
Motions, &c, in Parliament on behalf of Ministers.
11. [3]Any provision of written law requiring that any motion be moved or that any matter be brought or laid in or before either Chamber of Parliament by a Minister, shall be deemed to have been complied with, if, in the absence of that Minister from such Chamber, the motion is moved or the matter is so brought or laid, on behalf of that Minister, by any other Minister or a Parliament Secretary.
Power to make appointments.
12.[3] Where in the case of any appointment authorized by any law, provision is not made by the" Ceylon (Constitution and Independence) Orders in Council, 1946 and 1947, or by any other law, as to the authority by whom the appointment is to be made, such appointment may be made by the Minister or by an officer authorized in that behalf by the Minister.
Discharge of functions of Crown Agents.
13.[3] Where any written law requires or authorizes any duty or function to be performed or discharged by the Crown Agents, such duty or function may be performed or discharged by any person to whom such duty or function is assigned by the Minister.
Commencement of time
14. In all enactments-
(a) for the purpose of excluding the first in a series of days or any period of time, it shall be deemed to have been and to be sufficient to use the word " from " ;
Termination of time.
(b)for the purpose of including the last in a series of days or any period of time, it shall be deemed to have been and to be sufficient to use the word " to " ;
Official chiefs subordinates.
(c)for the purpose of expressing that a law relative to the chief or superior of an office shall apply to the deputies or subordinates lawfully executing the duties of such office in place of such chief or superior, it shall be deemed to have been and to be sufficient to prescribe the duty of such chief or superior ;
(d)for the purpose of indicating the relation of a law to the successors of any functionaries or corporations having perpetual succession, it shall be deemed to have been and to be sufficient to express its relation to the functionaries or corporations ;
Substitution of functionaries.
(e)for the purpose of indicating the application of a law to every person or number of persons for the time being executing the functions of an office, it shall be deemed to have been and to be sufficient to mention the official title of the officer executing such functions at the time of the passing of the enactment; and
Appointments and dismissals.
(f) for the purpose of conferring power to dismiss, suspend, or re-instate any officer, it shall be deemed to have been and to be sufficient to confer power to appoint him.
Where rules made under repealed law are kept in force by repealing law, such rules to be deemed to be made under repealing law.
15. When any rules made under any enactment which has been repealed are kept in force by the repealing enactment, whether passed before or after the commencement of this enactment, such rules shall be deemed for all purposes to have been, and to be, made under the corresponding provisions of such repealing enactment, and shall be enforceable as if they had been so made.
Reference to repealed enactments.
(1) Where in any written law or document reference is made to any written law which is subsequently repealed, such reference shall be deemed to be made to the written law by which the repeal is effected or to the corresponding portion thereof.
(2) This section shall apply to written laws and documents made as well before as after the commencement of this Ordinance.
General provisions with respect to power given to any authority to make rules.
(1) Where any enactment, whether passed before or after the commencement of this Ordinance, confers power on any authority to make rules, the following provisions shall, unless the contrary intention appears, have effect with reference to the making and operation of such rules :-
(a)any rule may be at any time amended, varied, rescinded, or revoked by the same authority and in the same manner by and in which it was made;
(b)there may be attached to the breach of any rule such penalty not exceeding fifty rupees as the authority making the rule may think fit, and any such penalty may be recovered in the same manner as a fine imposed by a Magistrate's Court;
(c)no rule shall be inconsistent with the provisions of any enactment;
(d)power to make rules for regulation, supervision, protection, or control shall include power to make rules-
(i) for the issue of licences for the purpose of such regulation, supervision, protection, or control;
(ii) for the cancellation of such licences by a court on a second or subsequent conviction by such court for breach of any of the rules in connection with which such licences were issued ;
(iii) for the refusal of licences in cases of non-compliance with the provisions of any rule so made, or in cases of persons whose previous licences have been cancelled by a competent court;
(e)all rules shall be published in the Gazette and shall have the force of law as fully as it they had been enacted in the Ordinance or Act of Parliament; and
(f)the production of a copy of the Gazette containing any rule, or of any copy of any rule purporting to be printed by the Government Printer, shall be prima facie evidence in all courts and for all purposes whatsoever of the due making and tenor of such rule.
(2)In this section the expression "rules" includes rules and regulations, regulations, and by-laws.
Special powers not to derogate from general powers.
(3)Where any enactment, whether passed before or after the commencement of this Ordinance, confers power or any authority to make rules, regulations, or by-laws for any general purpose, and also for and special purposes incidental thereto, the enumeration of the special purposes shall not be deemed to derogate from the generality of the powers conferred with reference to the general purpose.
Manner in which any proclamation, order, or notification may be amended, varied, or rescinded.
18. Where any enactment, whether passed before or after the commencement of this Ordinance, confers power on any authority to issue any proclamation, or make any order or notification, any proclamation, order, or notification so issued or made may be at any time amended, varied, rescinded, or revoked by the same authority and in the same manner, and subject to the like consent and conditions, if any, by or in which or subject to which such proclamation, order, or notification may be issued or made.
Construction of statutory rules, &c.
19. Where any enactment, whether passed before or after the commencement of this Ordinance, confers power to make, grant, or issue any instrument, that is to say, any proclamation, letters patent, Order in Council, order, warrant, scheme, rules, regulations, or by-laws, expressions used in the instruments shall, unless the contrary intention appears, have the same respective meaning as in the enactment conferring the power.
Acts done under rules, &c., to be deemed done under enactment by which rules authorized.
20. An act shall be deemed to be done under any enactment, or by virtue of powers conferred by any enactment, or in pursuance or execution of the powers of or under the authority of any enactment, if it is done under or by virtue of or in pursuance of any rule, order, or by-law or regulation made under any power contained in such enactment.
United Kingdom Acts to be read with necessary modification.
21. Whenever by any enactment any Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom is extended to Ceylon, such Act shall be read with such formal alterations as to names, localities, courts, offices, persons, moneys, penalties, and otherwise as may be necessary to make the same applicable to the circumstances of Ceylon.
Chapter 2 , Volume No. 1, Page No. 12