ABSTRACT A widely accepted view is that, for Bentham, legal interpretation was a mechanical or technical matter. This paper reconstructs Bentham’s complex theory of legal interpretation and challenges the above view. It demonstrates that Bentham’s theory of legal interpretation consists of three major theses. First, when there are different interpretations of a law, the authoritative interpreter ought to be the sovereign legislature. Second, strict interpretation attributes to the legislature the will it actually has when making the law. The strict interpretation of a law ought to take the text of the law itself as the standard, and then be guided by its purpose. Third, liberal interpretation attributes to the legislature a will that it would have had if it had been aware of the case before the court, but which it in fact failed to have through inadvertency. Liberal interpretation is a necessary evil, and must be checked: liberal interpretation ought to be made according to the pattern and materials of the old laws, and be subject to the authority of the sovereign legislature.

中文翻译：

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边沁论法律解释

摘要 一种广泛接受的观点是，对边沁来说，法律解释是一个机械或技术问题。本文重构边沁复杂的法律解释理论并挑战上述观点。它表明边沁的法律解释理论由三个主要论点组成。首先，当对法律有不同的解释时，权威的解释者应该是最高立法机关。其次，严格的解释将立法机关在制定法律时的实际意愿归于立法机关。对法律的严格解释，应当以法律文本本身为标准，以法律目的为指导。第三，自由主义解释赋予立法机关一个意志，如果它知道在法庭上审理的案件，它就会有这样的意志，但它实际上由于疏忽而未能做到。自由解释是一种必然之恶，必须加以制止：自由解释应该按照旧法律的模式和材料进行，并服从至高无上的立法机关的权威。