The Central Case Method in The Nature of Legislative Intent

Abstract

In The Nature of Legislative Intent, Richard Ekins explores the nature of legislative intent and, in doing so, the nature of the legislature. More precisely, Ekins aims ‘to perceive and explain the shape of the well-formed legislature’; and seeks to identify the central case of the legislature – that is to say, ‘the form that the legislature has, if any, when it is chosen and maintained by practically reasonable persons’. To approach the nature of the legislature, Ekins employs the central case method. Although there are good reasons to employ this method (which I endorse), the book does not include a full explanation of the methodology that underpins its approach.