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mischief rule As long ago as 1584 a canon of interpretation was laid down in England in Heydons case. This states that four things are to be considered while interpreting a statute. First, what was the law before the making of the Act; Second, what was the mischief and defect for which the law did not provide; Third, what remedy was parliament resolved and appointed to cure the disease; and Fourth, the true reason of the remedy. Where an enactment admits of two construction, that one is to be adopted as would suppress the mischief for which the statue was enacted and advance the remedy. |