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How To Read Bare Acts

Reading bare act is extremely fundamental to understand law; bare acts frequently employ language that is a little more difficult and puzzling. Reading Bare Acts is difficult for the majority of students, lawyers, and aspiring judicial officers. In order to comprehend laws, we will learn how to read the Bare Act. The exact text of a specific enactment or statute is known as the "bare act". It is the exact copy of the original legislation that is available to the general public. Bare act can be said to be the holy grail of law. While reading Bare Acts, there are some steps you can follow to get a clear understanding of the law.

1. Know the purpose and objective of the Act

Before reading a Bare Act, the first thing you need to do is learn about the Act's objectives and purpose, or discover the reason behind its enactment by the legislature. At the start of almost every Act, there is a long title that explains object and scheme of the Act. It can be understood by looking at the example of The Indian Contract Act, 1872. The act in its Preamble states that whereas it is expedient to define and amend certain parts of the law relating to contracts.

2. Read the interpretation or definition clause

At the beginning of every Act, there is an interpretation or definition clause that defines or explains some terms used in the Act. For example, Section 2 of the Companies Act is the definition clause providing definitions of the terms used in the act. It is not necessary that all the acts contain definition clause. For the acts where there is no definition or interpretation clause, such act provides reference of the other acts to interpret.

3. Interpret the Bar Act literally

The first rule of interpreting a statute is literal interpretation, so you should read the Bare Act exactly as it is. The judges generally adhere to the literal interpretation principle. The literal meaning of "interpret" is "should be read as their plain and ordinary meaning," whereas "reading Bare Act" does not speculate on any possible meaning. The Bare Act should be read as written.

4. Break up complicated sentences into smaller fragments and read

A long, complicated sentence is complex to read and understand. Bare Acts have some long, complicated sentences that are hard to understand at times. In that case, divide the sentences into sections, read slowly and patiently, and pause whenever you notice a comma. Bare Act is not as easy to read as novels or other books, so you shouldn't read it too quickly. To read Bare Act and comprehend the law clearly, you must have patience.

5. Pay special attention to certain terms

When reading Bare Acts, you should pay particular attention to terms like "and," "or," "may," "shall," "should," "provided", "notwithstanding" etc. when reading, you can't just ignore these terms; always pay close attention to them.

6. Give the Bare Act Multiple Readings

The language in bare acts is complex. To comprehend the authenticity of each Act's subject matter, you must read it multiple times. Give the Bare Act an essential casual read during the first reading. Highlight the most important aspects of the Bare Act in the second reading. Read only the highlighted portion during the third reading.

7. Wisely Choose the Bare act edition

The decision of choosing between the diglot edition of the Bare Act and the English version is one of the most important points and depends upon personal preference and understanding. In the diglot edition, the sections or articles are written in Hindi on one side and English on the other. In case if you face difficulty in understanding any particular phrase or section in English so you could refer to that particular phrase or section in Hindi. It is advisable to read any edition of your preference but always read the latest and updated version of the bare act.