Excerpt from Statutes and Their Interpretation in the First Half of the Fourteenth Century <p>The author's main Object has been to study the methods and the principles of interpreting legislation which were evolved by the common law courts during the Edwardian reigns. The justices Interpreted the enacted law of earlier reigns; but they were called upon to devote special attention to the statutes of their own time, more particularly those of Edward I. Some Of the judges, as the king's counsellors, had taken part in the drafting of statutes which they later interpreted. This is one particular reason why their interpretation now illumines for us the meaning and Scope of the acts and the relation of the acts to the unwritten common law. The maxim of the law, contem poranea exposz'tz'o est fortissz'ma in lege, has significance for the historian as well as for the lawyer. Especially in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, when the judges are 0103e identified with the council and the parliament, con temporary interpretation is a priceless key to the statutory law. His use of this key forms one of Mr Plucknett's main contribu tions to the history of his subject. <p>About the Publisher <p>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com <p>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.