Cite as: 515 U. S. 417 (1995)
Souter, J., dissenting
word "shall" a bit slippery, ante, at 432-433, n. 9, we have repeatedly recognized the normally uncompromising directive that it carries. See United States v. Monsanto, 491 U. S. 600, 607 (1989); Anderson v. Yungkau, 329 U. S. 482, 485 (1947); see also Griggs v. Provident Consumer Discount Co., 459 U. S. 56, 61 (1982) (per curiam); Association of Civilian Technicians v. FLRA, 22 F. 3d 1150, 1153 (CADC 1994) ("The word 'shall' generally indicates a command that admits of no discretion on the part of the person instructed to carry out the directive"); Black's Law Dictionary 1375 (6th ed. 1990) ("As used in statutes . . . this word is generally imperative or mandatory"). There is no hint of wobbling in the quoted language,1 and the normal meaning of its plain provisions that substitution is mandatory on certification is the best evidence of the congressional intent that the Court finds elusive (ante, at 425, 426). That normal meaning and manifest intent is confirmed by additional textual evidence and by its consonance with normal jurisdictional assumptions.
We would not, of course, read "shall" as so uncompromising if the Act also included some express provision for review at the behest of the tort plaintiff when the Attorney General certifies that the acts charged were inside the scope of a defendant employee's official duties. But the Westfall Act has no provision to that effect, and the very fact that its predecessor, the Federal Drivers Act, Pub. L. 87-258, 75 Stat. 539, combined "shall" with just such authorization for review at the will of a disappointed tort plaintiff, ibid. (previously codified at 28 U. S. C. § 2679(d) (1982 ed.)),2 makes the
1 The Court provides two examples from the Federal Rules in which the circumstances under which action "shall" be taken are limited by use of the word "only." Ante, at 432-433, n. 9. There is, of course, no similar language of limitation in § 2679(d)(1). The only prerequisite for substitution under the Westfall Act is certification.
2 The Drivers Act provided for certification only in cases originating in state court, and judicial review was perforce limited to those cases. See 75 Stat. 539 (previously codified at 28 U. S. C. § 2679(d) (1982 ed.)).
439
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