Special Canons of Interpretation in Criminal Law

Canons of restrictive interpretation and interpretation in favor of the accused are, among all canons of interpretation, special in criminal law. The canon of restrictive interpretation, which protects the principle of legality in criminal law, could be defined as the interpretation based on or in line with the legality of crimes. As a result, this canon serves as protecting the rights of the society, victims and the accused and, therefore, takes precedence over the canon of interpretation in favor of the accused, which only is on the accused. The latter canon belongs to the final phase of interpreting a criminal law and protects rights of the accused in the framework of principle of permissibility and presumption of innocence. The canon applies when a meaning of a criminal law could not be preferred on the basis of relevant theories of interpretation and other canons on interpretation.