Preliminary Title.
Of the Promulgation, Distribution, Effect, Application, Interpretation and Execution of the Laws in General

Acts of the imperial parliament which affect Canada are deemed to be promulgated and come into force from the day on which they received the royal assent, unless some other time is therein appointed.

• The acts of the provincial parliament are deemed to be promulgated:
• 1. If they be assented to by the governor, from the date of such assent;
• 2. If they be reserved, from the time at which the governor makes known, either by proclamation, or by speech or message to the legislative council and assembly, that they received the royal assent.

Any provincial act assented to by the governor ceases to have force and effect from the time at which it is announced, either by proclamation, or by speech or message to the legislative council and assembly, that such act has been disallowed by Her Majesty within the two years following the reception, by one of her principal secretaries of state, of the authentic copy which has been transmitted to him of such act.

An authentic copy of the statutes assented to by the governor, or the assent to which has been published as provided in article 2, is furnished by the clerk of the legislative council to Her Majesty's printer, whose duty it is to print and cause to be distributed, to all entitled thereto, the number of copies mentioned in the list transmitted to him by the provincial secretary, after the close of each session.

The persons entitled to such distribution are the members of both houses of parliament, and the public departments, administrative bodies and public officers mentioned in the said list.

The laws of Lower Canada govern the immoveable property situate within its limits.

Moveable property is governed by the law of the domicile of its owner. But the law of Lower Canada is applied whenever the question involved relates to the distinction or nature of the property, to privileges and rights of lien, contestations as to possession, the jurisdiction of the courts and procedure, to the mode of execution and attachment, to public policy and the rights of the crown, and also in any other cases specially provided for by this code.

The laws of Lower Canada relative to persons, apply to all persons being therein, even to those not domiciled there; subject, as to the latter, to the exception mentioned at the end of the present article.

An inhabitant of Lower Canada so long as he retains his domicile therein, is governed, even when absent, by its laws respecting the status and capacity of persons; but these laws do not supply to persons domiciled out of Lower Canada, who, as to their status and capacity, remain subject to the laws of their country.

Acts and deeds made and passed out of Lower Canada, are valid, if made according to the forms required by the law of the country where they were passed or made.

Deeds are construed according to the laws of the country where they were passed, unless there is some law to the contrary, or the parties have agreed otherwise, or by the nature of the deed or from other circumstances, it appears that the intention of the parties was to be governed by the law of another place; in any of which cases, effect is given to such law, or such intention expressed or presumed.

No act of the legislature affects the rights or prerogatives of the crown, unless they are included therein by special enactment.

The rights of third parties, who are not specially mentioned in any such act, are likewise exempt from the effect thereof, unless the act is public and general.

An act is public either by its nature or by its being so declared. All other acts are private.

All persons are bound to take cognizance of public acts; but private acts must be pleaded.

A judge cannot refuse to adjudicate under pretext of the silence, obscurity or insufficiency of the law.

When a law is doubtful or ambiguous, it is to be interpreted so as to fulfil the intention of the legislature, and to attain the object for which it was passed.

The preamble, which forms part of the act, assists in explaining it.

No one can by private agreement, validly contravene the laws of public order and good morals.

Prohibitive laws import nullity, although such nullity be not therein expressed.

The word « shall » is to be construed as imperative, and the word « may » as permissive.

Penalties, confiscations and fines incurred for contraventions of the laws, are recoverable, unless it is otherwise specially provided, by ordinary process of law, in the name of Her Majesty, alone, or jointly with another prosecutor, before any court having civil jurisdiction to the amount sought to be recovered, except only the Commissioners' Courts for the summary trial of small causes, which are prohibited from taking cognizance of these cases.

Obs. In view of the length of this provision and the number of legislative amendments which only concern paragraph 14 of the Schedule, dealing with holidays, it was thought advisable to depart from the usual pattern of presentation of the texts and to provide, as they were modified, only those paragraphs which have been affected by a modifying act. As a result, the full length of the Schedule of article 17 is only presented in its original version of 1866, in that of the Revised Statutes of 1888 and, finally, in the present version of 1979 incorporating, of course, the successive amendments still in force, since the 1888 version.

The words, terms, expressions and enactments enumerated in the following schedule wherever used in this code or in any act of the provincial legislature, have the meaning and application respectively assigned to them in such schedule, and are interpreted in the manner therein specified, unless there is some special enactment to the contrary.

SCHEDULE

• 1. Each of the expressions "Her Majesty", "the King", "the Sovereign", "the Queen", "the Crown", means the king or the queen, his or her heirs and successors, sovereigns of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
• 2. The words "imperial parliament" mean the parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; the words "imperial acts or statutes" mean the laws passed by the parliament, and the words "act" and "statute" whenever they are made use of in this code, without qualification, mean the acts and statutes of the parliament of Canada.
• By the words "provincial parliament" is understood the parliament of Canada, and the words "provincial acts or statutes" mean the laws passed by that parliament.
• 3. The words "governor", "governor of this province", "Governor General", or "Governor in Chief", mean the governor, lieutenant-governor or the person administering the government of this province.
• 4. "Governor in Council" means the governor, lieutenant-governor, or the person administering the government, acting with the advice of the executive council of this province.
• 5. The word "proclamation" means proclamation under the great seal, and by "great seal" the great seal of the province of Canada is understood.
• 6. "Lower Canada" means all that part of the province of Canada which, previously to the union, constituted the province of Lower Canada; and « Upper Canada » that part which, at the same time, constituted the province of Upper Canada.
• 7. The words "The United Kingdom" mean the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; and "The United States", the United States of America.
• 8. The name commonly given to a country, place, body, corporation, society, officer, functionary, person, party or thing, designates and means the country, place, body, corporation, society, officer, functionary, person, party or thing thus named, without the necessity of more ample description.
• 9. The masculine gender includes both sexes, unless it appears by the context that it is only applicable to one of them.
• 10. The singular number extends to more than one person, or more than one thing of the same sort, whenever the context admits of such extension.
• 11. The word "person" includes bodies politic and corporate, and extends to heirs and legal representatives, unless such meaning is contrary to law or inconsistent with the particular circumstances of the case.
• 12. The words "writing", "written" or terms of like import, include words printed or otherwise traced or copied.
• 13. The word "month" means a calendar month.
• 14. By "Holidays" are understood the following days: Sundays, New Year's Day, the Epiphany, the Annunciation, Good Friday, the Ascension, Corpus-Christi, the festival of St. Peter and S. Paul, All Saints' Day, Christmas Day and any other day fixed by proclamation as a day of general fast or thanksgiving; saving the special provisions established by the statutes concerning the collection of the revenue and the payments of bills of exchange and promissory notes.
• 15. The word "oath" includes the solemn affirmation which certain persons are permitted to make instead of an oath.
• 16. The word "magistrate" means a justice of the peace. "Two justices of the peace" means two or more justices sitting or acting together. When any thing is ordered to be done by or before a justice of the peace, magistrate, functionary or public officer, one is understood whose powers or jurisdiction extend to the place where such thing ought to be done.
• The authority given to do a thing, carries with it all the powers necessary for that purpose.
• 17. The right of nominating to an office or employment carries with it that of removal.
• 18. The duties imposed and the powers conferred upon an officer or public functionary, in his official capacity, pass to his successor, and pertain to his deputy in so far as they are compatible with the charge of the latter.
• 19. When an act is to be performed by more than two persons, it may be validly done by the majority of them, except in the cases otherwise specially provided.
• 20. The pound sterling is equivalent to the sum of four dollars, eighty-six cents and two thirds, or one pound, four shillings and four pence, currency. The "sovereign" is of like value.
• 21. By the terms "inhabitant of Lower Canada" is meant a person having his domicile in that part of the province.
• 22. The terms "acts of civil status" mean the entries made in the registers kept according to law, to establish births, marriages and burials.
• "Registers of civil status" are the books so kept and in which such acts are entered.
• "Officers of civil status" are those intrusted with the keeping of such registers.
• 23. By "bankruptcy" is meant the condition of a trader who has discontinued his payments.
• 24. A fortuitous event is one which is unforeseen, and caused by superior force which it was impossible to resist.

The word "furniture" comprises only the moveables which are destined to furnish and ornament apartments, such as tapestry, beds, seats, mirrors, clocks, tables, china and other objects of a like kind.

It also comprises pictures and statues, but not collections of pictures which are in galleries or particular rooms.

As regards china, likewise, only that which forms part of the decoration of a room comes under the denomination of furniture.

The expression "moveable property" and "moveable things" comprise generally whatever is reputed moveable according to the rules above established.

In the sale or the gift of a ";furnished house" the word "furnished" comprises no other moveables than furniture.

The laws in force at the time of the coming into force of this code are abrogated in all cases;

In which there is a provision herein having expressly or implicitly that effect;

In which such laws are contrary to or inconsistent with any provision herein contained;

In which express provisions is herein made upon the particular matter to which such laws related;

Except always that as regards transactions, matters and things anterior to the coming into force of this code, and to which its provisions could not apply without having effect, the provisions of law which without this code would apply to such transactions, matters and things remain in force and apply to them, and this code applies to them only so far as it coincides with such provisions.

The declaration that certain matters are regulated by the Code of Civil Procedure shall not have the effect of repeating any existing rule or of abolishing any mode or proceeding now in use until the said Code of Civil Procedure shall have become law.

If any article of this code founded on the laws existing at the time of its promulgation, there be a difference between the English and French texts, that version shall prevail which is most consistent with the provisions of the existing laws on which the article is founded; and if there be any such difference in an article changing the existing laws, that version shall prevail which is most consistent with the intention of the article, and the ordinary rules of legal interpretation shall apply in determining such intention.