...
[which narrow and
" ...a living tree capable of growth and expansion within its natural limits should not be] cut down technical construction, but rather [given] large and liberal interpretation. 54
...
by a
2
Similarly Lord Wilberforce in the Privy Council, talking of
the Burmudan Constitution which incorporated a Bill of Rights
said that it should be given:
upon.
"A
generous interpretation, avoiding what has been called the 'austerity of tabulated legalism', suitable to give to individuals the full measure of fundamental rights and freedoms
referred to.
In interpreting and then enforcing express basic rights in
this way, future judges of Hong Kong would undoubtedly have
much developed jurisprudence in other countries to draw
But if the law were to be a living and relevant
instrument for Hong Kong society, it would be essential that
the judges should have a vision of what that society is and how rules, expressed in language of generality, may operate for the benefit of such a society and its people.
In the United States of America the judges have a
notion of the nature of United States society in which the
unlimited statements of that country's bill of rights must
operate. Such rights are expressed in absolute terms.
Necessarily, they cannot operate in that way. They must be
balanced against the collective needs of society.
United
States courts have therefore, as a matter of definition of
such rights, had to use judicial construction as the chief
instrument for limiting and controlling the apparently
absolute terms in which the rights are expressed in the Bill of Rights of that country. 56
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