This is the second edition of the work previously known as Interpretation and Use of Legal Sources. It covers all aspects of interpretation in Australian law:

• public law, including statutory and constitutional interpretation;

• private law, including the interpretation of contracts, deeds, wills and trusts; and

• case law, including the interpretation of judgments and the rules of precedent.

The new edition has been fully revised and updated. The coverage has been expanded to include:

• implication of terms in private documents;

• rectification of private documents; and

• interpretation of non-legislative statutory instruments, such as patents, industrial agreements and development consents.

The book has been restructured into smaller chapters, arranged thematically to assist in identifying parallels in the principles of interpretation in different areas.

The treatment of interpretation across all areas of the law is unique and makes this book an invaluable resource. The Honourable Dyson Heydon described the first edition as “one of a small handful of outstandingly able books on Australian law produced so far this century” and a book that “really does need to be on every lawyer’s shelves”.