strict interpretation
By the letter
Strict interpretation is a method of reading laws, contracts, or other texts by adhering closely to their literal wording rather than inferring broader meaning or intent.
The approach limits judicial discretion and resists expanding provisions beyond what the language explicitly states.
In constitutional law, strict interpretation—also called strict constructionism—argues that courts should apply only what the framers wrote, not what they might have meant: The judge favored a strict interpretation of the Second Amendment.
- originalismInterpreting by founding-era meaning
- original intentAuthors' understood purpose
- textualismInterpreting law literally
- plain meaningDirect, straightforward interpretation
- hermeneuticsStudy of interpretation methods
letter of the law · fundamentalism · literal sense · formalism · semantics · word for word · judicial restraint · grammatical rules · by the book · syntax · close reading · exegesis · deductive reasoning · orthodoxy · constructionism · inerrancy · pragmatics · semiotics
strict interpretationjudicial activism
Broad court interpretation philosophy
strict, strictly, strictness, stricter, strictest, stricture, strictures, restrict, restricted