be bound, is, in our opinion, still applicable. . . . No doubt the insertion in many Acts of Parliament of clauses to protect the Crown, or save Crown rights, has given rise to the impression that this rule has to some extent been trenched upon, and we are far from saying that there may not be provisions in public Acts of Parliament so framed as to bind the Crown even though the Crown may not be specially named. But, in our opinion, the intention that the Crown shall be bound, or has agreed to be bound, must clearly appear either from the language used or from the nature of the enactments.”—Hornsey Urban District Council v. Hennell, [1902] 2 K. B. 73, at p. 80; 71 L. J. K. B. 479, at p. 482, Lord Alverstone, C. J., delivering the judgment of the Court (Lord Alverstone, C. J., Darling and Channell, JJ.).

"The Crown is not bound by an Act of Parliament unless specially named, or unless there is a necessary implication to be drawn from the provisions of the Act, or from the legislation on the subject, that the Crown was intended to be bound."-Thomas v. Pritchard, [1903] 1 K. B. 209, at pp. 212, 213; 72 L. J. K. B. 23, at p. 25, Lord Alverstone, C. J.

"Upon the general question of when statutes should or should not be held to bind the Crown, I cannot add anything to that which I said in the Hornsey Case (Hornsey District Council v. Hennell, [1902] 2 K. B. 73; 71 L. J. K. B. 479 [see supra], which was a judgment which was concurred in by my brothers Darling and Channell, and in which I tried as far as I could to consider the authorities bearing upon the matter. I do not see any reason to express myself differently to the way in which I expressed myself in that judgment."— Cooper v. Hawkins, [1904] 2 K. B. 164, at p. 170; 73 L. J. K. B. 113, at p. 117, Lord Alverstone, C. J.

(See also Stewart v. Thames Conservators, [1908] 1 K. B. 893, at p. 901; 77 L. J. K. B. 396, at pp. 399, 400, Bray, J.)

Statutory References to the Crown.

Interpretation Act, 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c. 63).

"Sect. 30.-In this Act and in every other Act, whether passed before or after the commencement of this Act [1st January, 1890], references to the sovereign reigning at the time of the passing of the Act or to the Crown shall, unless the contrary intention appears, be construed as references to the sovereign for the time being, and this Act shall be binding on the Crown."

General Statutory Interpretation.

Lord Brougham's Act, 1850 (13 & 14 Vict. c. 21). [10th June, 1850, which by sect. 8 commenced and took effect from and immediately after 4th February, 1851.] Repealed by Interpretation Act, 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c. 63), s. 41.

"Sect. 4. Be it enacted, that in all Acts, words importing the masculine gender shall be deemed and taken to include females, and the singular to include the plural, and the plural the singular, unless the contrary as to gender or number is expressly provided;

"And the word 'month' to mean calendar month, unless words be added showing lunar month to be intended;

[(N.B.-Prior to this section the expression "month" meant "lunar month.") "For all purposes, and in all Acts of Parliament where months' are spoken of, without the word 'calendar,' and nothing is added from which a clear inference can be drawn that the legislature intended calendar months, it is understood to mean lunar months.""-Lacon v. Hooper (1795), 6 T. R. 224, at p. 226, Kenyon, C. J.]

"And 'county' shall be held to mean also county of a town or of a city, unless such extended meaning is expressly excluded by words;

"And the word 'land' shall include messuages, tenements and hereditaments, houses and buildings, of any tenure, unless where there are words to exclude houses and buildings, or to restrict the meaning to tenements of some particular tenure;

"And the words 'oath,' 'swear,' and 'affidavit,' shall include affirmation, declaration, affirming and declaring, in the case of persons by law allowed to declare or affirm instead of swearing."

Words" include" and "mean."

"The word 'include' is very generally used in interpretation clauses in order to enlarge the meaning of words or phrases occurring in the body of the statute; and when it is so used these words or phrases must be considered as comprehending, not only such things as they signify according to their natural import, but also those things which the interpretation clause declares that they shall include. But the word 'include' is susceptible of another construction, which may become imperative, if the context of the Act is sufficient to show that it was not merely employed for the

purpose of adding to the natural significance of the words or expressions defined. It may be equivalent to 'mean and include,' and in that case it may afford an exhaustive explanation of the meaning which, for the purposes of the Act, must inevitably be attached to these words or expressions."-Dilworth v. Commissioners of Stamps, [1899] A. C. 99, at pp. 105, 106; 68 L. J. P. C. 1, at p. 4, Lord Watson, delivering the judgment of the Judicial Committee. (See also Dyke v. Elliott (1872), L. R. 4 P. C. 184; 41 L. J. Adm. 65; Reg. v. Herman (1879), 4 Q. B. D. 284; 48 L. J. M. C. 106; Corporation of Portsmouth v. Smith (1883), 13 Q. B. D. 284; 53 L. J. Q. B. 92.)

See also "Interpretation Clauses," post, p. 299.

"Person."

"This Act is general, and extends to all persons of what estate or degree soever, and as well to women as to men for the words be [if any person] and generalia verba sunt generaliter intelligenda." -3 Inst. c. 21, p. 76.

"That the word 'person' may include corporation' I will not deny. Though at the same time, considering the way in which statutes are now drawn, that where 'corporation' is meant it is always named, at least there is no modern instance to the contrary,―that where the legislature made a general interpretation clause that person' should be male and female, plural and singular, &c., it did not include corporation, I should be reluctant to hold that in any particular statute 'person' included 'corporation' unless there was strong reason so to do.”—Pharmaceutical Society v. London Supply Association (1880), 5 Q. B. D. 310, at p. 313; 49 L. J. Q. B. 338, at p. 340, Bramwell, L. J.

"I think the principle laid down by the junior counsel for the respondents [Mr. Finlay] was substantially right; that if a statute provides that no person shall do a particular act except on a particular condition, it is primâ facie natural and reasonable (unless there be something in the context, or in the manifest object of the statute, or in the nature of the subject-matter, to exclude that construction) to understand the legislature as intending such persons, as, by the use of proper means, may be able to fulfil the condition; and not those who, though called 'persons' in law, have no capacity to do so at any time, by any means, or under circumstances whatsoever."-Pharmaceutical Society v. London

any

Supply Association (1880), 5 App. Cas. 857, at p. 862; 49 L. J. Q. B. 736, at p. 738, Lord Selborne, L. C.

Interpretation Act, 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c. 63).

Re-enactment of Existing Rules.

Rules as to Gender and Number.

"Sect. 1.-(1.) In this Act, and in every Act passed after the year 1850, whether before or after the commencement of this Act [1st January, 1890], unless the contrary intention appears,— "(a) Words importing the masculine gender shall include females; and

"(b) Words in the singular shall include the plural, and words in the plural shall include the singular.

66

(2.) The same rules shall be observed in the construction of every enactment relating to an offence punishable on indictment or on summary conviction, when the enactment is contained in an Act passed in or before the year 1850.

Application of Penal Statutes to Bodies Corporate.

"Sect. 2.-(1.) In the construction of every enactment relating to an offence punishable on indictment or on summary conviction, whether contained in an Act passed before or after the commencement of this Act [1st January, 1890], the expression person shall, unless the contrary intention appears, include a body corporate.

66

(2.) Where under any Act, whether passed before or after the commencement of this Act [1st January, 1890], any forfeiture or penalty is payable to a party aggrieved, it shall be payable to a body corporate in every case where that body is the party aggrieved."

"I take it, therefore, to be clear that, in the ordinary case of a duty imposed by statute, if the breach of the statute is a disobedience to the law punishable in the case of a private person by indictment, the offending corporation cannot escape from the consequences which would follow in the case of an individual by showing that they are a corporation. That seems to me to be common sense and good law."-The Queen v. Tyler and International Commercial Co., [1891] 2 Q. B. 588, at p. 594; 61 L. J. M. C. 38, at p. 40, Bowen, L. J.

Meanings of certain Words in Acts since 1850.

"Sect. 3. In every Act passed after the year 1850, whether before or after the commencement of this Act [1st January, 1890], the following expressions shall, unless the contrary intention appears, have the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them; namely,"The expression 'month' shall mean calendar month;

"The expression 'land' shall include messuages, tenements, and hereditaments, houses, and buildings of any tenure;

"The expressions 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 the expression 'swear' shall, in the like case, include affirm and declare.

Meaning of "County" in past Acts.

"Sect. 4. In every Act passed after the year 1850, and before the commencement of this Act [1st January, 1890], the expression 'county' shall, unless the contrary intention appears, be construed as including a county of a city, and a county of a town.

Meaning of "Parish."

"Sect. 5. In every Act passed after the year 1866, whether before or after the commencement of this Act [1st January, 1890], the expression parish' shall, unless the contrary intention appears, mean, as respects England and Wales, a place for which a separate poor-rate is or can be made, or for which a separate overseer is or can be appointed."

(See 29 & 30 Vict. c. 113, s. 18, repealed by 52 & 53 Vict. c. 63, s. 41, and Sched.)

Meaning of "County Court."

"Sect. 6. In this Act, and in every Act and Order of Council passed or made after the year 1846, whether before or after the commencement of this Act [1st January, 1890], the expression 'county court' shall, unless the contrary intention appears, mean, as respects England and Wales, a Court under the County Courts Act, 1888."

(See County Courts Act, 1846 (9 & 10 Vict. c. 95), s. 142.)