CA Intermediate · Corporate and Other Laws · Interpretation of Statutes
A municipal by-law states: 'No person shall bring any dog, cat, or other animal into the public garden.' Meena enters the garden with a pet parrot on her shoulder. Applying the rule of ejusdem generis, what is the correct position?
The parrot is not covered. Under ejusdem generis, the general words 'other animal' following dog and cat are limited to the same kind of animals, namely four-legged domestic mammals. A bird does not belong to that class, so Meena does not breach the by-law.
- AThe parrot is covered, because 'other animal' includes every living creature
- BThe parrot is not covered, because 'other animal' takes its meaning from dog and cat, which are four-legged mammals, so a bird falls outside the classCorrect
- CThe by-law is void for vagueness and cannot be applied to any animal
- DThe parrot is covered because general words always override the specific words that precede them
Explanation
Ejusdem generis means general words following specific words are read as limited to things of the same kind as the specific words. Dog and cat form a class of domestic four-legged mammals, so 'other animal' is limited to that class. A parrot is a bird and is outside it. The option reading general words as overriding the specific words reverses the rule.
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