Title. Short Title. Acts in Schedule repealed. Mode of referring to Act (13 and 14 Vict. c. 21, s. 3.) PART II. NEW ZEALAND ORDINANCES AND ACTS AFFECTING JUSTICES AND RESIDENT MAGISTRATES. The reader is reminded that the Acts of the General Assembly of recent years have been published without any punctuation; and the punctua tion, and divisions of sections into sentences and paragraphs, adopted for convenience sake by the author of the work, is not authoritative. Moreover, the marginal notes, which form no substantive parts of the Acts, and are not available for purposes of construction, have been varied from the originals in the Government Printer's copies, when it seemed desirable. THE INTERPRETATION ACT, 1868. (32 VICT. C. 81.) An Act for the Interpretation of Acts of the General Assembly of New Zealand and of Ordinances of the Legislative Council of New Zealand. [20th October, 1868.] 1. The Short Title of this Act shall be "The Interpretation Act, 1868;" and it shall come into operation on the day on which it shall receive the Governor's assent. 2. The Ordinance and the Acts mentioned in the Schedule hereto shall be and the same are hereby repealed; but nothing herein contained shall affect any act or thing lawfully done under the said Ordinance or the said Acts, or either of them, or any insertion of a date lawfully made by any Clerk of the Executive Council under "The Interpretation Act, 1858,"(1) before the coming into operation of this Act: and all such acts and things, and all such insertions of dates, shall continue to have the same force and effect as if this Act had not been passed. 3. (2) In any Act of the General Assembly of New Zealand, former Act is referred to, it shall be sufficient-if such any (1) Which determined the time at which Acts were to come into operation under its provisions. when () This section, avowedly taken from the 13th and 14th Vict. c. 21, s. 3 (known as Lord Brougham's Interpretation Act, 1850), seems to include references to former New Zealand Acts in new Acts within the description of "Acts made after the reign of Henry VII.;" but section 11 permits reference to Acts by their Short Titles when they have such. Act be of the Imperial Legislature, and was made before the seventh year of Henry the Seventh-to cite the year of the King's reign in which it was made;-and where there are more statutes than one in the same year, the statute,—and where there are more chapters than one, the chapter; and if such Act referred to was made after the fourth year of Henry the Seventh, to cite the year of the reign; and where there are more statutes or sessions than one in the same year, the statute or the session (as the case may require); and where there are more chapters, numbers, or sections than one, the chapter, number, or section, or chapter or number and section (as the case may require), -without reciting the title of such Act, or the provision of such section so referred to. And the reference in all cases shall be made according to the To what copies of Statutes printed by the Queen's Printer, or to the copies. copies thereof contained in the reports of the Commissioners of Public Records; and in all cases of Acts passed by the General Assembly of New Zealand, according to the copies of such Acts published by the Government Printer. 4. Every Ordinance, and every Act of the General Assembly, Acts to be passed or to be passed, shall be deemed and taken to be a public deemed public. Ordinance or Act as the case may be, and shall be judicially taken notice of as such, unless the contrary be expressly provided by the Ordinance or Act. into sections. 5. Every Act to be hereafter passed shall be divided into To be divided sections, if there be more enactments than one: and whenever any Ordinance or any Act already, or which may hereafter be, passed is or shall be divided into sections, such sections shall be deemed to be substantive enactments, without any introductory words. 6. Every Act already, or which may hereafter be, passed, When to which does not prescribe the time from which it is intended to come into operation. take effect, and which shall have been assented to in Her Majesty's name, shall be deemed to have come into operation, or shall come into operation-as the case may be-on the day on which it shall have received or shall receive the Governor's assent-as the case may be. 7. Every Act already, or which may hereafter be, passed, Reserved Acts. which does not prescribe the time from which it is intended to take effect, and which shall have been or shall be reserved for the signification of Her Majesty's pleasure thereon, shall be Clerk of Exe cutive Council Acts, day &c. to indorse on of assent. Acts amend able in same Session. Repeal of repealing Act not to revive Act first repealed. Acts cited by Interpretation deemed to have come into operation-as the case may be-on the day on which the Governor (by Speech, Message, or Proclamation), shall have signified, or shall signify-as the case may be-that Her Majesty has assented to the same. 8. The Clerk of the Executive Council shall insert in this Act and every Act to be hereafter passed, immediately after the title thereof, the day, month, and year when the same shall have been assented to by the Governor in Her Majesty's name; and when any Act shall have been reserved by the Governor for the signification of Her Majesty's pleasure thereon, then the day, month, and year on which the Governor, by such Speech, Message, or Proclamation as aforesaid, shall have signified that Her Majesty has assented to such Act. And every such date shall be taken to be a part of the Act and to be the date of its commencement, when no other commencement shall be therein provided. 9. Every Act may be altered, amended, or repealed in the same Session of the General Assembly of New Zealand in which it may be passed. 10. Whenever any Ordinance repealing, in whole or in part, any former Ordinance or any Act of the General Assembly passed or to be passed, repealing in whole or in any part any former Act, (whether of the Imperial Parliament, in operation in New Zealand, or of the General Assembly, or any Ordinance of the Governor, Governor-in-Chief, or Lieutenant-Governor, and Legislative Council of New Zealand, or of any Provincial Legislature,) shall be repealed, such last repeal shall not revive the Act, Ordinance, or provision before repealed, unless words be added reviving such Act, Ordinance, or provision; and whenever any Act of the General Assembly shall be made, repealing in whole or in part any such Act or Ordinance as in this section aforesaid, and substituting some provision or provisions instead of the provision or provisions repealed, such provision or provisions so repealed shall remain in force until the substituted provision or provisions shall come into operation by force of the Act last made. 11. Every Act passed or to be passed, having a Short Title, may for all purposes be cited by such Short Title. 12. In the construction of all Acts of the General Assembly, passed or to be passed, and of all Ordinances of the Governor, Governor-in-Chief, or Lieutenant-Governor, and Legislative Council of New Zealand, the words and expressions following shall have the meanings hereby assigned to them, that is to say: The term "Her Majesty," shall include Her Majesty, her "Her heirs and successors. Majesty." The terms "Governor," ""Governor-in-Chief," and "Lieu- "Governor." tenant-Governor," shall mean the person for the time being lawfully administering the Government of New Zealand. Act." The term "Constitution Act" shall mean an Act of the "Constitution Act." The term "Constitution Amendment Act" shall mean "Constitution The terms "the Colony" and under the authority of the Government of New The words "oath" and "affidavit" shall include affirma- "Oath" Words importing the singular number only shall include Singular and Masculine gender. "Month." "Person." "Colonial Secretary." "Colonial Treasurer." "Commissioner of Customs." "PostmasterGeneral." AttorneyGeneral." "Land." Application to this Act. number only shall include the singular number; and words importing the masculine gender only shall include females; unless the contrary as to number or gender is expressly provided. The word "month" shall mean calendar month, unless words be added showing a lunar month to be intended. The word "person" shall include a corporation, unless there be expressed something repugnant to or inconsistent with that interpretation. The term "Colonial Secretary" shall include the Minister for the time being acting for the Colonial Secretary. The term "Colonial Treasurer" shall include the Minister for the time being acting for the Colonial Treasurer. The term "Commissioner of Customs" shall include the Minister for the time being acting for the Commissioner of Customs. The term "Postmaster-General" shall include the Minister for the time being acting for the Postmaster-General. The words "Attorney-General" shall include Her Majesty's Solicitor-General in New Zealand during any vacancy in the office of Attorney-General, and during the absence of the Attorney-General from New Zealand. The word "land" shall include messuages, tenements, and hereditaments, houses and buildings, unless there are words to exclude houses and buildings, or to restrict the meaning to tenements of some particular tenure. 13. The preceding sections of this Act, numbered four to twelve inclusive, shall be deemed to apply to this Act. "Governor in 14. The term "Governor in Council," where used in any Ordinance or in any Act of the General Assembly, passed or to Council." be passed, shall mean the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Executive Council of New Zealand; -and whenever in any Act of the General Assembly of New Zealand, or in any Act or Ordinance of the Governor, Governorin-Chief, or Lieutenant-Governor, and Legislative Council of New Zealand, or of any Provincial Legislature, it is provided that any order, warrant, appointment, rules, regulations, or proclamation, |