by the elements, the consequences designated by the rule apply to those
facts”.
To appreciate the rationale for a legal rule being a conditional statement,
consider again its purpose. It is trying to delineate certain facts, or the right
facts, and to attach legal consequences to those facts. Thus the rule is saying
to the world: “If the right facts occur, these consequences apply”.
Application of a Legal Rule to Facts
There is a good reason that most legal rules, including those that are the
foundation of litigation and transactions, are formulated as conditional
statements. It is only if a rule has this form that it can apply to facts. When the
rule does apply to facts, the process is deductive logic in the form of a
syllogism. This is illustrated briefly below and explained in a later chapter.
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While it is generally true that legal rules apply to facts there are some
exceptions, although their scope is not wide. This happens in constitutional
law and administrative law because some parts of these branches of law apply
to other laws instead of facts. This is illustrated by the doctrine of ultra vires.
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(i) A statute can be outside the power of a legislature. Such a statute is not
valid. This part of constitutional law applies to statutes to determine whether
they are valid or invalid. (ii) Ultra vires will invalidate the exercise of a
delegated legislative power or of an executive power that is made outside the
letter or spirit of the enabling statute. This part of constitutional law applies to
delegated legislation and administrative decisions.
Exception
While most legal rules contain both elements and consequences there is an
exception, although it is not germane to the overall argument. Some rules
impose consequences but possess
no elements. This happens when a rule
establishes something such as a body corporate. For example s5 of a statute
may say: “Section 5 creates a corporation named the Overseas Wheat
Corporation”.
When a legal rule takes this form,
it is an unconditional not a
conditional statement.
Syllogism
That a legal rule is a conditional statement brings an inevitable additional
consequence –
application of legal rule to facts constitutes a syllogism for
which the conditional statement constitutes the major premise. While this is
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Chapter 5 Deduction
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Ultra vires is Latin meaning beyond power. It contrasts with intra vires,
which means within power.
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