Showing posts with label penal statutes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label penal statutes. Show all posts

Saturday, 28 December 2013

Deference and the Rule of Lenity

In a recent American case, Carter v. Welles-Bowen Realty, Inc, the question arose whether the rule that ambiguous penal statutes are to be construed in favour of defendants (the "rule of lenity") could 'trump' the rule that courts are to defer to administrative interpretations of ambiguous statutes (Chevron deference).