Preamble - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition preamble

Definition :

Preamble, in the British Parliament, a Preamble is not often incorporated now in a public Bill, however, it appears in a Bill of great Constitutional importance or in a Bill to give effect to international conventions, Parliamentary Practice, Erskine May, 22nd Edn., 1977, p. 462.

Preamble, introduction, preface; also the beginning of an Act of Parliament, etc., serving to portray the interests of its framers, and the mischiefs to be remedied; a good mean to find out the meaning of the statute, and as it were a key to open the understanding thereof, 1 Inst. 79 a; and see the Sussex Peerage Case, (1844) 11 Cl&F 143; Winn v. Mossman, (1869) LR 4 Ex 299; Maxwell on Statutes; Hardcastle on Statutes; Mew's Digest, tit. 'Statute'; the effect of the cases being that as a general rule the preamble is to be resorted to only in case of ambiguity in the statute itself.

Preamble, which in early (English) Acts (see, e.g., 4 & 5 W. & M. c. 18, the Act of Settlement, and the Irish Act, 1 Car. 1, c. 1), and even in comparatively modern Acts (see, e.g., 3 & 4 Vict. c. 77, 9 & 10 Vict. c. 48), often extended to very great length, are now very frequently discontinued; and in Statute Law Revision Acts passed since 1888, Parliament has repealed preambles of statutes still in force, but Lord Halsbury, L.C., in Powell v. Kempton Park Race Course, 1899 AC 143, affirming the Court of Appeal [SC, (1897) 2 QB 242], referred to a Preamble so repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act, 1892, and in his Laws of England, tit. 'Statute,' declared that 'the repeal of a preamble by a Statute Law Revision Act will in way affect the future construction of the Act.'

The Constitution has a noble and grand vision contained in the Preamble. So far as the Preamble is concerned, though in an ordinary statute the Supreme Court does not attach any importance to the Preamble, all importance has to be attached to the Preamble in a constitutional statute. The Preamble of the Constitution of India does not seem to prescribe any vague doctrines like the law of natural justice even if the latter, contrary to many decisions of our court be considered vague, His Holiness Kesavananda Bharati Sripadagalvaru v. State of Kerala, AIR 1973 SC 1461: (1973) 4 SCC 225: (1973) Supp SCR 1.

Preamble' has been defined in the Oxford English Dictionary to mean 'a preliminary statement, in speech or writing; and introductory paragraph, section, or clause; a preface, prologue, introduction'. It has further been defined there as 'an introductory paragraph or part in a statute, deed, or other document, setting forth the grounds and intention of it'. The preamble thus betokens that which follows, Mohd. Yusuf Rather v. State of Jammu and Kashmir, AIR 1979 SC 1925 (1928): (1979) 4 CC 370: (1980) 1 SCR 258.

Preamble' has been defined in the Oxford English Dictionary to mean 'a preliminary statement in speech or writing'; 'all introductory paragraph, section, or clause'; 'a preface, prologue, introduc-tion'. It has further been defined there as 'an introductory paragraph or part in a statute, deed, or other document setting forth the ground and intention of it'. The preamble thus betokens that which follows, Dhananjoy Das v. District Magistrate, AIR 1982 SC 1315 (1319): (1982) 2 SCC 521: (1983) 1 SCR 122.

Preamble, is a clause introductory to, and explainary of, the reasons for establishing a Constitution. A Dictionary of Law, Willium C. Anderson, 1889, p. 789.

Preamble, is an introduction, especially one to a Constitution, Statute, etc., stating its reason and purpose, Webster American Dictionary, p. 1147.

Preamble, means introduction or preface. It is always restricted to the preface of an Act or statute, where the framers, in a succinct way, define their intent and explain the mischiefs to be remedied. It is undoubtedly a part of the Act, and may be sued to explain it. It is also used to refer to the introductory para of the grounds of detention served upon a detenu, Dhananjoy Das v. District Magistrate Darrang, (1982) 2 SCC 521.

Means merely the prefatory note or the introductory para containing casual or passing reference to in significant facts not intended to be relied upon, which are neither meant for, nor have the potentiality of influencing the judgment of the detaining authority in the matter of passing or not passing the order of detention, Sanju Dora v. State of Orissa, 1995 Cr LJ 3150 (3151) (Ori).