What is Legislative Intent
Legislative intent is an interpretation of the law when the statutes in place are ambiguous in regards to a particular matter. For over one hundred years, state courts have been using legislative intent as evidence when interpreting state law. When a statute has multiple interpretations legislative intent is derived from additional sources.
What is Legislative History
Legislative history are documents that are produced during the process of a bill being debated by Congress. These documents are often used by attorneys to clear up ambiguous language and to prove legislative intent. These documents can include, bills, committee reports, and congressional debates.
New Legal Research Tools Help Lawyers with Legislative History
The total percent of bills enacted by Congress in the first year of a session is about 33%. There are over 300 bills currently waiting for senate action.With this staggering amount of legislative documents, legislative research tools are important for attorneys. There are several legal research tools that are able to sift through legislative history documentation which can help lawyers and court personnel understand the circumstances of certain laws.
