Botha, Christo. Statutory interpretation. – 6th ed. – Juta, 2022
 
ISBN: 9781485139485
 
About this publication : "Interpretation of statutes is about understanding enacted law-texts, in other words, making sense of the total relevant legislative scheme applicable to the situation at hand. Apart from poor reading and writing skills, one of the more striking current interpretation problems is the inability of law students (as well as the latest generation of legal practitioners) to interpret and apply legislation within the total legal environment."
 
Part 1: Statute law [Legislation as source of law – What is interpretation of statutes? – The new constitutional order – The term ‘legislation’ – What is legislation? – Categories of legislation – What is not legislation? – Legislative structure and ‘codes’ – Relationship between legislation and common law – Is it in force? The commencement of legislation – Adoption and promulgation of legislation – Hear ye, hear ye! The requirement of publication – Pulling the trigger: commencement of legislation – Back in the time warp: the presumption that legislation only applies to the future –
Is it still in force? Changes to and the demise of legislation – Changes to legislation – The demise of legislation – Suspension of legislation already in force – The presumption that legislation does not intend to change the existing law more than is necessary –
 
Part 2: How legislation is interpreted [Theoretical foundations – Jurisprudential perspectives on statutory interpretation – South African theories of interpretation – A practical, inclusive methodology: the five interrelated dimensions of interpretation – The language dimension – The holistic (contextual and structural) dimension: don’t miss the wood for the trees – The value-laden (teleological) dimension: the ghost in the machine – The historical dimension: lest we forget – The comparative dimension]
 
Part 3: Some practical issues and tricks of the trade: judicial law-making during interpretation, peremptory and directory provisions – Judicial law-making during concretisation – What is concretisation? – The law-making function of the courts – Possibilities during concretisation – Peremptory and directory provisions]
 
Part 4: Constitutional interpretation [Why is a supreme Constitution different? – How to interpret the Constitution – Avoiding unconstitutional legislation – Contemporary challenges, or, whose Constitution is it anyway?]