From Presumption to Interpretation

Abstract

Interpretation is one of the broadest headings of legal science, particularly in the continental legal tradition, in which the jurist is identified chiefly as an interpreter. This essay shows how the formation of a general category of interpretation in the late 16th century resulted from the convergence of two separate activities: the interpretation of law and the conjecture or presumption of facts (will). The source is offered by a text from Jacopo Menochio's De praesumptionibus (1587).

Keywords: interpretation, presumption, law of contract