Interpretation Act

An Act respecting the interpretation of statutes and regulations.

(20th of September 2025)

I. PRELIMINARY

Short Title

1 This Act may be cited as the Interpretation Act.

Definition of Terms Used in this Act

2 (1) Unless otherwise specified:

(a) The term “Act” means an Act of Parliament;

(b) The term “enact” includes “to issue”, “to make”, or “to establish”;

(c) The term “enactment” means an Act or regulation or any portion of an

Act or regulation;

(d) The term “public officer” includes any person in the federal public

administration who is authorized by or under an enactment to do or enforce

the doing of an act or thing or to exercise a power, or on whom a duty is

imposed by or under an enactment;

(e) The term “regulation” includes an order, regulation, rule, rule of court,

form, tariff of costs or fees, letters patent, commission, warrant,

proclamation, by-law, resolution or other instrument issued, made or

established

(i) in the execution of a power conferred by or under the authority of

an Act, or

(ii) by or under the authority of the Prime Minister in Council;

(f) The term “repeal” includes “revoke”, or “cancel”;

Expired and Replaced Enactments

(2) For the purposes of this Act, an enactment that has been replaced is repealed

and an enactment that has expired, lapsed or otherwise ceased to have effect is

deemed to have been repealed.

II. APPLICATION

Application

3 (1) Every provision of this Act applies, unless a contrary intention appears, to

every enactment, whether enacted before or after the commencement of this Act.

Application to this Act

(2) The provisions of this Act apply to the interpretation of this Act.

Rules of Construction not Excluded

(3) Nothing in this Act excludes the application to an enactment of a rule of

construction applicable to that enactment and not inconsistent with this Act.

III. ENACTING CLAUSE OF ACTS

Enacting Clause

4 (1) The enacting clause of an Act may be in the following form:

“By and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons

of Aquria-Catopolis, it is enacted as follows:”.

Order of Clauses

(2) The enacting clause of an Act shall follow the preamble, if any, and the various

provisions within the purview or body of the Act shall follow in a concise and

enunciative form.

IV. OPERATION

Day Fixed for Commencement or Repeal

Operation When Date Fixed for Commencement or Repeal

5 (1) Where an enactment is expressed to come into force on a particular day, it

shall be construed as coming into force on the expiration of the previous day, and

where an enactment is expressed to expire, lapse or otherwise cease to have effect

on a particular day, it shall be construed as ceasing to have effect on the

commencement of the following day.

When No Date Fixed

(2) Every enactment that is not expressed to come into force on a particular day

shall be construed as coming into force on the expiration of the day immediately

before the day the regulation was made.

Judicial notice

(3) Judicial notice shall be taken of a day for the coming into force of an enactment

that is fixed by a regulation that has been published in the Aquria-Catopolis

Gazette.

Regulation Prior to Commencement

Preliminary Proceedings

6 Where an enactment is not in force and it contains provisions conferring power to

make regulations or do any other thing, that power may, for the purpose of making

the enactment effective on its commencement, be exercised at any time before its

commencement, but a regulation so made or a thing so done has no effect until the

commencement of the enactment, except in so far as may be necessary to make the

enactment effective on its commencement.

Territorial Operation

Territorial Operation

7 (1) Every enactment applies to the whole of Aquria-Catopolis, unless a contrary

intention is expressed in the enactment.

Amending Enactment

(2) Where an enactment that does not apply to the whole of Aquria-Catopolis is

amended, no provision in the amending enactment applies to any part of

Aquria-Catopolis to which the amended enactment does not apply, unless it is

provided in the amending enactment that it applies to that part of Aquria-Catopolis

or to the whole of Aquria-Catopolis.

Exclusive Economic Zone of Aquria-Catopolis

(2.1) Every enactment that applies in respect of exploring or exploiting, conserving

or managing natural resources, whether living or non-living, applies, in addition to

its application to Aquria-Catopolis, to the exclusive economic zone of

Aquria-Catopolis, unless a contrary intention is expressed in the enactment.

Continental Shelf of Aquria-Catopolis

(2.2) Every enactment that applies in respect of exploring or exploiting natural

resources that are

(a) mineral or other non-living resources of the seabed or subsoil, or

(b) living organisms belonging to sedentary species, that is to say, organisms

that, at the harvestable stage, either are immobile on or under the seabed or

are unable to move except in constant physical contact with the seabed or

subsoil

applies, in addition to its application to Aquria-Catopolis, to the continental shelf

of Aquria-Catopolis, unless a contrary intention is expressed in the enactment.

V. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION

Property and Civil Rights

Duality of Legal Traditions and Application of Provincial Law

8 Both the common law and the civil law are equally authoritative and recognized

sources of the law of property and civil rights in Aquria-Catopolis and, unless

otherwise provided by law, if in interpreting an enactment it is necessary to refer to

a province’s rules, principles or concepts forming part of the law of property and

civil rights, reference must be made to the rules, principles and concepts in force in

the province at the time the enactment is being applied.

Private Acts

Provisions in Private Acts

9 No provision in a private Act affects the rights of any person, except as therein

mentioned or referred to.

Law Always Speaking

Law Always Speaking

10 The law shall be considered as always speaking, and where a matter or thing is

expressed in the present tense, it shall be applied to the circumstances as they arise,

so that effect may be given to the enactment according to its true spirit, intent and

meaning.

Imperative and Permissive Construction

“Shall” and “may”

11 The expression “shall” is to be construed as imperative and the expression

“may” as permissive.

Enactments Remedial

Enactments Deemed Remedial

12 Every enactment is deemed remedial, and shall be given such fair, large and

liberal construction and interpretation as best ensures the attainment of its objects.

Preambles

Preamble

13 The preamble of an enactment shall be read as a part of the enactment intended

to assist in explaining its purport and object.

Application of Interpretation Provisions

Application of definitions and interpretation rules

14 (1) Definitions or rules of interpretation in an enactment apply to all the

provisions of the enactment, including the provisions that contain those definitions

or rules of interpretation.

Interpretation Sections Subject to Exceptions

(2) Where an enactment contains an interpretation section or provision, it shall be

read and construed

(a) as being applicable only if a contrary intention does not appear; and

(b) as being applicable to all other enactments relating to the same

subject-matter unless a contrary intention appears.

Words in Regulations

15 Where an enactment confers power to make regulations, expressions used in the

regulations have the same respective meanings as in the enactment conferring the

power.

Proclamations

Proclamation

16 (1) Where an enactment authorizes the issue of a proclamation, the

proclamation shall be understood to be a proclamation of the Prime Minister in

Council.

Proclamation to be Issued on Advice

(2) Where the Prime Minister is authorized to issue a proclamation, the

proclamation shall be understood to be a proclamation issued under an order of the

Prime Minister in Council, but it is not necessary to mention in the proclamation

that it is issued under such an order.

Effective Day of Proclamations

(3) A proclamation that is issued under an order of the Prime Minister in Council

may purport to have been issued on the day of the order or on any subsequent day

and, if so, takes effect on that day.

Oaths

Administration of Oaths

17 (1) Where, by an enactment or by a rule of the Senate or House of Commons,

evidence under oath is authorized or required to be taken, or an oath is authorized

or directed to be made, taken or administered, the oath may be administered, and a

certificate of its having been made, taken or administered may be given by

(a) any person authorized by the enactment or rule to take the evidence; or

(b) a judge of any court, a notary public, a justice of the peace or a

commissioner for taking affidavits, having authority or jurisdiction within

the place where the oath is administered.

Where Justice of Peace Empowered

(2) Where power is conferred on a justice of the peace to administer an oath or

solemn affirmation or to take an affidavit or declaration, the power may be

exercised by a notary public or a commissioner for taking oaths.

Reports to Parliament

Reports to Parliament

18 Where an Act requires a report or other document to be laid before Parliament

and, in compliance with the Act, a particular report or document has been laid

before Parliament at a session thereof, nothing in the Act shall be construed as

requiring the same report or document to be laid before Parliament at any

subsequent session.

Corporations

Powers Vested in Corporations

19 (1) Words establishing a corporation shall be construed

(a) as vesting in the corporation power to sue and be sued, to contract and be

contracted with by its corporate name, to have a common seal and to alter or

change it at pleasure, to have perpetual succession, to acquire and hold

personal property for the purposes for which the corporation is established

and to alienate that property at pleasure;

(b) in the case of a corporation having a name consisting of an English and a

French form or a combined English and French form, as vesting in the

corporation power to use either the English or the French form of its name or

both forms and to show on its seal both the English and French forms of its

name or have two seals, one showing the English and the other showing the

French form of its name;

(c) as vesting in a majority of the members of the corporation the power to

bind the others by their acts; and

(d) as exempting from personal liability for its debts, obligations or acts

individual members of the corporation who do not contravene the provisions

of the enactment establishing the corporation.

Corporate Name

(2) Where an enactment establishes a corporation and in each of the English and

French versions of the enactment the name of the corporation is in the form only of

the language of that version, the name of the corporation shall consist of the form

of its name in each of the versions of the enactment.

Permission Required

(3) The establishing of a private corporation must be first approved by Parliament,

or an organisation authorized to do so by Parliament.

Banking Business

(4) No corporation is deemed to be authorized to carry on the business of banking

unless that power is expressly conferred on it by the enactment establishing the

corporation.

Majority and Quorum

Majorities

20 (1) Where an enactment requires or authorizes more than two persons to do an

act or thing, a majority of them may do it.

Quorum of Board, Court, Commission, etc.

(2) Where an enactment establishes a board, court, commission or other body

consisting of three or more members, in this section called an “association”,

(a) at a meeting of the association, a number of members of the association

equal to,

(i) if the number of members provided for by the enactment is a fixed

number, at least one-half of the number of members, and

(ii) if the number of members provided for by the enactment is not a

fixed number but is within a range having a maximum or minimum, at

least one-half of the number of members in office if that number is

within the range,

constitutes a quorum;

(b) an act or thing done by a majority of the members of the association

present at a meeting, if the members present constitute a quorum, is deemed

to have been done by the association; and

(c) a vacancy in the membership of the association does not invalidate the

constitution of the association or impair the right of the members in office to

act, if the number of members in office is not less than a quorum.

Appointment, Retirement and Powers of Officers

Public Officers Hold Office During Pleasure

21 (1) Every public officer appointed by or under the authority of an enactment or

otherwise is deemed to have been appointed to hold office during pleasure only,

unless it is otherwise expressed in the enactment, commission or instrument of

appointment.

Effective Day of Appointments

(2) Where an appointment is made by instrument under the State Seal of

Aquria-Catopolis, the instrument may purport to have been issued on or after the

day its issue was authorized, and the day on which it so purports to have been

issued is deemed to be the day on which the appointment takes effect.

Appointment or Engagement Otherwise than Under State Seal of

Aquria-Catopolis

(3) Where there is authority in an enactment to appoint a person to a position or to

engage the services of a person, otherwise than by instrument under the State Seal

of Aquria-Catopolis, the instrument of appointment or engagement may be

expressed to be effective on or after the day on which that person commenced the

performance of the duties of the position or commenced the performance of the

services, and the day on which it is so expressed to be effective, unless that day is

more than sixty days before the day on which the instrument is issued, is deemed to

be the day on which the appointment or engagement takes effect.

Remuneration

(4) Where a person is appointed to an office, the appointing authority may fix, vary

or terminate that person’s remuneration.