Comparative Approaches to the Use of Legislative History in Statutory Interpretation

Abstract

In many legal systems the significance to be attributed to legislative history in the context of statutory interpretation remains unsettled. The following article explores this matter with regard to German, UK and US law. It develops arguments based in legal theory, constitutional law, and law and economics and thus affords deeper insight into the current discussion on legal methods on both sides of the Atlantic. At the same time, the topic is used to promote the further development of comparative legal methodology.

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Keywords: statutory interpretation, legislative history, comparative legal methodology, exclusionary rule, textualism, dynamic statutory interpretation, subjective theory, objective theory