This article considers the interpretive significance of legislative inaction. Section I considers the nature of arguments based on legislative inaction. Section II explores the practical, conceptual and constitutional problems with trying to rely on legislative inaction as an interpretive aid. Section III concludes that attempts to draw inferences from legislative inaction alone are deeply flawed, but that inferences might legitimately be drawn from inaction if it forms part of the context against which the legislation is enacted. Even then, however, there are practical difficulties in determining what inferences to draw.

中文翻译：

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解释议会的不作为

本文考虑立法不作为的解释意义。第一节考虑了基于立法不作为的论点的性质。第二部分探讨了试图依靠立法不作为作为解释性援助的实际、概念和宪法问题。第三部分得出结论，试图仅从立法的不作为中得出推论是有严重缺陷的，但如果不作为构成立法所针对的背景的一部分，则可以合法地从不作为中得出推论。然而，即便如此，在确定要得出什么推论方面也存在实际困难。