last antecedent rule
- A principle used in legal interpretation where a court decides that qualifying words or phrases refer to the words directly before them, unless it logically should apply to something else or less obvious
- In the contract clause using the 'last antecedent rule', the restrictions only applied to the last item.
- The judge used the ‘last antecedent rule’ to interpret the confusing statute.
- Using the last antecedent rule, the court clarified the meaning of the ambiguous provision.
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