39:, a noted attorney, legislator, judge and politician, who in 1891 in his influential treatise stated, “Relative and qualifying words and phrases, grammatically and legally, where no contrary intention appears, refer solely to the last antecedent.” J. Sutherland, Statutes and Statutory Construction, § 420 (1891) (footnote citations omitted). Sutherland, however, qualified his proposed rule. He noted, “t is better always to adhere to a plain, common-sense interpretation of the words of a statute than to apply to them a refined and technical grammatical construction. It is not always safe to assume that the draftsman of an act understood the rules of grammar.”
24:
and contracts. The rule is that "Referential and qualifying phrases, where no contrary intention appears, refer solely to the last antecedent." There are examples of judges both applying and rejecting use of the rule under similar facts. The rule is typically bound by "common sense" and is flexible
75:
Manuals of style recognize that the comma is used to indicate a slight break in a sentence. But according to the Rule of the Last
Antecedent, adding a comma after a series of antecedents not only doesn't sever the modifier from the last noun or phrase in the series, it in fact operates remotely on
58:
An alternate and more formulaic approach to the rule requires, inflexibly, that "Evidence that a qualifying phrase is supposed to apply to all antecedents instead of only to the immediately preceding one may be found in the fact that it is separated from the antecedents by a comma." Kenneth A.
34:
The Rule of the Last
Antecedent is often cited as gospel to courts in statutory construction disputes, with little reference to its origins and the caveats set forth by its primary originator. While courts invoked the principle previously, it was
80:“A contrary rule of construction is that when a clause follows several words in a statute and is applicable as much to the first word as to the others in the list, the clause should be applied to all of the words which preceded it.”
200:
166:"Nea-Goodland v. U.S.D. No. 352, 775 P.2d 675, 13 Kan. App. 2, 13 Kan. App. 2d 558 (Kan. Ct. App. 1989)(quoting In re Petition of School District of Omaha, 151 Neb. 304, 307-308, 37 N.W.2d 209 (1949))|"
25:
enough to avoid application that "would involve an absurdity, do violence to the plain intent of the language, or if the context for other reason requires a deviation from the rule."
189:
47:§ 267. He noted further that where there is “improbability of a contrary design… an independent proposition” may apply alike to all antecedents which are of the “same class.”
51:(applying the principle to “officers”). Thus, “here the intention is manifest, a proviso … when inserted in one section … may be applied to the matter of another section.”
329:
43:§ 259. “Qualifying words have been applied to several preceding sections where the nature of the provisions and the obvious sense required it.”
324:
101:
149:
190:"Com. v. NC Financial Solutions of Utah, LLC, No. CL 2018-6258, at *16, 2018 WL 5621026, at *7 (Fairfax Cir. Ct. October 28, 2018)"
76:
all the antecedents, binding them to the modifier. Nothing in the general literature on punctuation suggests such a mechanism.
334:
64:
120:
319:
299:
249:
224:
165:
36:
145:
287:
67:
and rigid approach as being applied inconsistently and contrary to the guidance of many
313:
68:
142:
The people's law dictionary : taking the mystery out of legal language
21:
304:
28:
Further qualifications have been noted to application of the rule:
121:"Circuits split on lenders' loophole | Virginia Lawyers Weekly"
250:"Board of Trustees v. Judge, 50 Cal. App. 3d 920 (1975)"
225:"SEIU v. DAS, 183 Or.App. 594, 54 P. 3d 1043 (2002)"
95:
93:
73:
32:
8:
269:11 Cal. 2d 634, 659, 82 P.2d 3, 17 (1938)).
267:Wholesale T. Dealers v. National etc. Co.,
20:is a controversial rule for interpreting
140:Hill, Gerald N.; Hill, Kathleen (2002).
102:"Behind the scenes of the comma dispute"
89:
61:A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting
7:
100:Adams, Kenneth A. (28 August 2007).
14:
206:from the original on 2022-05-23
330:Contract law legal terminology
1:
325:Common law legal terminology
144:. New York, NY: MJF Books.
119:Vieth, Peter (2018-11-19).
351:
37:Jabez Gridley Sutherland
78:
63:, has criticized this
56:
300:Possessive antecedent
65:canon of construction
18:last antecedent rule
197:fairfaxcounty.gov
59:Adams, author of
342:
335:Common law rules
270:
264:
262:
260:
246:
240:
239:
237:
235:
221:
215:
214:
212:
211:
205:
194:
186:
180:
179:
177:
176:
162:
156:
155:
137:
131:
130:
128:
127:
116:
110:
109:
97:
69:manuals of style
350:
349:
345:
344:
343:
341:
340:
339:
310:
309:
296:
284:
279:
274:
273:
258:
256:
248:
247:
243:
233:
231:
223:
222:
218:
209:
207:
203:
192:
188:
187:
183:
174:
172:
164:
163:
159:
152:
139:
138:
134:
125:
123:
118:
117:
113:
99:
98:
91:
86:
12:
11:
5:
348:
346:
338:
337:
332:
327:
322:
312:
311:
308:
307:
302:
295:
292:
291:
290:
283:
280:
278:
275:
272:
271:
254:Google Scholar
241:
229:Google Scholar
216:
199:. 2018-10-28.
181:
157:
150:
132:
111:
106:Globe and Mail
88:
87:
85:
82:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
347:
336:
333:
331:
328:
326:
323:
321:
320:Statutory law
318:
317:
315:
306:
303:
301:
298:
297:
294:Grammar rules
293:
289:
286:
285:
281:
276:
268:
255:
251:
245:
242:
230:
226:
220:
217:
202:
198:
191:
185:
182:
171:
167:
161:
158:
153:
151:9781567315530
147:
143:
136:
133:
122:
115:
112:
107:
103:
96:
94:
90:
83:
81:
77:
72:
70:
66:
62:
55:
54:
50:
46:
42:
38:
31:
30:
26:
23:
19:
288:Four corners
282:Rules of law
266:
257:. Retrieved
253:
244:
232:. Retrieved
228:
219:
208:. Retrieved
196:
184:
173:. Retrieved
170:casetext.com
169:
160:
141:
135:
124:. Retrieved
114:
105:
79:
74:
60:
57:
52:
48:
44:
40:
33:
29:
27:
17:
15:
259:22 November
234:22 November
314:Categories
210:2023-04-01
175:2023-04-01
126:2023-04-04
84:References
277:See also
265:(citing
201:Archived
22:statutes
49:See id.
305:Syntax
148:
204:(PDF)
193:(PDF)
261:2021
236:2021
146:ISBN
16:The
53:Id.
45:Id.
41:Id.
316::
252:.
227:.
195:.
168:.
104:.
92:^
71::
263:.
238:.
213:.
178:.
154:.
129:.
108:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.