What are Bare Acts?
Before moving on to the crux of this article, we must first understand what exactly are ‘Bare Acts’ and why being able to read one is a necessary skill.
Bare Acts are the text of a particular enactment by the Legislature without any explanation. In the Bare Acts, we read about the origin of law. Bare acts are statutes in their original form without the interpretation of the author.
How To Effectively Peruse A Bare Act?
Here are some things to follow while reading a Bare Act-
- Know the purpose of the Act.
When you start begin reading the Bare Act, you should first acquaint yourself with the purpose of the Act and the legislative intention with which this Act was approved. You can start reading some of the common Bare Acts like ‘Consumer protection Act’, ‘Indian Penal Code’, ‘Indian Contract Act”, etc. Start from the index- this part provides a roadmap on navigating how the statutes has been divided into multiple parts and the subject matter of parts and provisions. After reading indices, refrain from skipping the Objective section- this deals with what purpose and vision the law has been enacted.
- Read and re-read the Definition clause.
Every Act constitutes a Definition clause that defines important phrases or terms that have been used in the Act. Re-read these clauses until you understand those terms or phrases. Usually Section 2 of statutes deal with definitions. A thorough understanding of the significance of important terms is integral to learn the meaning of individual provisions in the statute.
- Interpret the clause literally.
Literal interpretation is the best approach to reading a statute. Although there are multiple ways to interpret a statute, it is advisable to read their plain and ordinary meaning unless the statute or the particular provision is explicitly ambiguous. The judges also have an inclination towards the principle of literal interpretation in most cases, unless the wording of the law is such that it requires a non-literal approach.
- Break each section into different parts.
A lengthy and complex statement or paragraphs are tough to read and understand easily. In such cases, one may find it suitable to break down the paragraphs into parts and attempt to understand each part separately.
- Pay special attention to key terms in all the sections.
While reading Bare Acts, special attention is required for some of the keywords. A good practice can be to mark the important keywords after reading a section with highlighters or pens.
- Do not miss out on any words like “and”, “or”.
When reading through bare acts, one should keep an eye out for terms like “and”, “or”. Although they may seem prima facie insignificant, the slightest change in such words can practically change the entire meeting of the provision.
- When in doubt refer to your textbook or even a commentary.
When you start reading bare acts, you are likely to hit snags owing to the technical language and frequency of jargons. For convenience, you may choose to refer to an appropriate textbook or commentary on the statute that explains the provisions in a simpler manner.
- Consistent revision of the bare acts will help you to improve your knowledge, understanding and also aid in learning all the sections easily.
Contrary to popular perception, this is not a lengthy process. Either way, it is worth your time. Reading bare acts is an acquired skill and needless to say, skills take time and patience to develop. Perusing bare acts only at the time of an assignment or exam will not suffice in the long run. Moreover, once you have read through basic bare acts, you may move on to more advanced statutes in the field of banking law, civil law and so on.
Some Do’s and Don’ts.
Do’s.
- Bare acts warrant consistency- you cannot hope to learn and understand bare acts overnight, you must invest one and a half hours every day for 3 months at least.
- Fix a daily time to read bare acts and stick to it.
- Note down the meaning of legal words or common words in the drafting diary- this will expand your vocabulary of legal jargon.
Don’ts.
- Buy a hard copy of bare acts, don’t read bare acts online.
- Reading the bare acts for one day and never doing it again is a fool’s errand.
- Reading only commentaries in isolation is also not recommended as you tend to depend on the interpretation far more than on the actual text.
YLCC would like to thank Somesh for his valuable inputs in this article.
