Resumen de Sentences, statements, statutes

Richard Ekins

• The article considers how the enactmenc of a statute changes the law, and how philosophy of language and the social ontology of legislating inform our understanding of statutes and their interpretation. In doing so, the article contrasts the ideas of statute as sentence, statute as statement, and statute as choice. It is argued that statutes are neither mere sentences on which a function is performed, nor simply statements. The author suggests that statutes should be primarily understood as reasoned choices; and that th is truth should inform how one interprets statutes (and the way in which statutes change the law).