Hawaii Revised Statutes 1. Common Law; Construction of Laws

• 1-1 Common Law of the State; Exceptions.
  The common law of England, as ascertained by English and American decisions, is declared to be the common law of the State of Hawaii...
• 1-2 Certain Laws Not Obligatory Until Published.
  No written law, unless otherwise specifically provided by legislative enactment, except general or special appropriation acts, loan fund acts, pension acts, and franchise acts,...
• 1-3 Laws Not Retrospective.
  No law has any retrospective operation, unless otherwise expressed or obviously intended. [CC 1859, §5; RL 1925, §5; RL 1935, §5; RL 1945, §4;...
• 1-4 Persons and Property Subject to Laws.
  The laws are obligatory upon all persons and property within the jurisdiction of the State. [CC 1859, §6; am imp PC 1869, c 3,...
• 1-4.5 Cession of Concurrent Jurisdiction.
  (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, the State of Hawaii hereby cedes concurrent legislative jurisdiction to the United States over the lands...
• 1-5 Contracts in Contravention of Law.
  Private agreements shall have no effect to contravene any law which concerns public order or good morals. But individuals may, in all cases in...
• 1-6 Prohibitory Law, Effect.
  Whatever is done in contravention of a prohibitory law is void, although the nullity be not formally directed. [CC 1859, §8; RL 1925, §8;...
• 1-7 Repeal of Laws.
  Laws may be repealed either entirely or partially by other laws. [CC 1859, pt of §20; RL 1925, §21; RL 1935, §23; RL 1945,...
• 1-8 No Revivor on Repeal; Exception.
  The repeal of any law shall not revive any other law which has been repealed, unless it is clearly expressed. [CC 1859, pt of...
• 1-9 Express or Implied Repeals.
  The repeal of a law is either express or implied. It is express when it is literally declared by a subsequent law; it is...
• 1-10 Effect of Repeal on Accrued Rights.
  The repeal of any law shall not affect any act done, or any right accruing, accrued, acquired, or established, or any suit or proceedings...
• 1-11 Effect of Repeal on Pending Suit or Prosecution.
  No suit or prosecution pending at the time of the repeal of any law, for any offense committed, or for the recovery of any...
• 1-12 Application of Statutory Construction Provisions.
  All provisions of the Hawaii Revised Statutes relating to general statutory construction shall apply not merely to laws now in force but to all...
• 1-13 Official Languages.
  English and Hawaiian are the official languages of Hawaii. Whenever there is found to exist any radical and irreconcilable difference between the English and...
• 1-13.5 Hawaiian Language; Spelling.
  Macrons and glottal stops may be used in the spelling of words or terms in the Hawaiian language in documents prepared by or for...
• 1-14 Words Have Usual Meaning.
  The words of a law are generally to be understood in their most known and usual signification, without attending so much to the literal...
• 1-15 Construction of Ambiguous Context.
  Where the words of a law are ambiguous: (1) The meaning of the ambiguous words may be sought by examining the context, with which...
• 1-16 Laws in Pari Materia.
  Laws in pari materia, or upon the same subject matter, shall be construed with reference to each other. What is clear in one statute...
• 1-17 Number and Gender.
  Words in the masculine gender signify both the masculine and feminine gender, those in the singular or plural number signify both the singular and...
• 1-18 "Or", "And".
  Each of the terms "or" and "and", has the meaning of the other or of both. [PC 1869, c 1, §4; RL 1925, §15;...
• 1-19 "Person", "Others", "Any", Etc.
  The word "person", or words importing persons, for instance, "another", "others", "any", "anyone", "anybody", and the like, signify not only individuals, but corporations, firms,...
• 1-20 "Month", "Year".
  The word "month" means a calendar month; and the word "year", a calendar year. [CC 1859, §18; RL 1925, §17; RL 1935, §18; RL...
• 1-21 "Oath".
  The word "oath" includes a solemn affirmation. [CC 1859, §19; RL 1925, §18; RL 1935, §19; RL 1945, §18; RL 1955, §1-26; HRS §1-21;...
• 1-22 "County".
  The word "county" includes the city and county of Honolulu. [L 1935, c 121, §1; RL 1945, §19; RL 1955, §1-27; HRS §1-22]
• 1-23 Severability.
  If any provision of the Hawaii Revised Statutes, or the application thereof to any person or circumstances, is held invalid, the remainder of the...
• 1-24 Interpretation of Uniform Acts.
  All provisions of uniform acts adopted by the State shall be so interpreted and construed as to effectuate their general purpose to make uniform...
• 1-25 References Apply to Amendments.
  Whenever reference is made to any portion of the Hawaii Revised Statutes or of any other law of the State, the reference applies to...
• 1-26 References Inclusive.
  Whenever reference is made to a series of sections in the Hawaii Revised Statutes by citing only the numbers of the first and last...
• 1-27 Citations of Laws Included in Supplements and Replacement Volumes.
  Any act of the legislature may be cited in any subsequent legislative act or in any other proceeding by reference to the chapter or...
• 1-28 Service of Notice by Mail.
  Wherever a state statute provides for the giving of notice or service of legal process by registered mail the sending of such notice or...
• 1-28.5 Publication of Notice.
  (a) Notwithstanding any other statute, law, charter provision, ordinance, or rule to the contrary, whenever a government agency is required to give public notice...
• 1-29 Computation of Time.
  The time in which any act provided by law is to be done is computed by excluding the first day and including the last,...
• 1-30 Hawaiian Standard Time Applicable.
  In all statutes, ordinances, rules, regulations, and orders relating to the time of performance of any act by any state or county officer or...
• 1-31 Hawaiian Standard Time; Definition; Observance.
  Hawaiian standard time is ten hours slower than Greenwich time, based on the mean solar time of the one hundred and fiftieth degree of...
• 1-32 Acts to Be Done on Holidays.
  Whenever any act of a secular nature other than a work of necessity or mercy is appointed by law or contract to be performed...

Last modified: October 27, 2016