Primary directives (Chiassoni, 2020, p. 133) indicate to the interpreter how to proceed in assigning at least one meaning to a provision. Chiassoni (2020, p. 134) lists twenty-eight primary directives grouped into six categories:
1) directives for linguistic interpretation;
2) directives for (pseudo)psychological interpretation;
3) directives for authoritative interpretation;
4) directives for teleological interpretation;
5) directives for systematic interpretation;
6) and directives for heteronomous interpretation.
Directives for linguistic interpretation
The ordinary linguistic interpretation directive simply states that a provision should be given the meaning that derives from the common usage of words and the syntactic rules of a language (Chiassoni, 2020, p. 134). To this simple directive are added four other directives for linguistic interpretation, resulting from the combination of two criteria (Chiassoni, 2020, p. 134-139).
The first refers to the language user community, since the meaning to be given to a provision can be that adopted by the set of users of a natural language, or that attributed by a subset of experts.
The second criterion concerns the change in meaning over time. In this case, the meaning to be attributed may be that of the moment the provision was created or that of the moment of interpretation.
Directives for (pseudo) psychological interpretation
Regarding directives for (pseudo)psychological interpretation, Chiassoni (2020, p. 141-142) acknowledges the great difficulty in analyzing the mind, will, or intention of the legislator. Therefore, he suggests (Chiassoni, 2020, p. 142) that the intention be sought: a) in the preparatory work; b) in the social problems that led to the approval of the provisions; c) in the principles that inspired the legislative policy of the historical legislator; d) and in other pertinent data from the historical-political-social context of the production of the provision under interpretation.
Chiassoni (2020, p. 139-140) notes that the expression “legislator’s will” has two meanings: the first is the meaning the legislator intended to give to the text; the second is the meaning suggested by the purpose the legislator wished to pursue. He emphasizes (Chiassoni, 2020, p. 140) that the word “legislator” also has several meanings: a) the ideal legislator as a rational being; b) the real historical legislator; and c) the real current legislator. Based on the combination of these meanings, Chiassoni (2020, p. 139-147) identifies nine directives for (pseudo)psychological interpretation.
Directives for authoritative interpretation
In the third group are directives for authoritative interpretation, which, in their simplest form, establish that a provision should be given the same meaning attributed by a particular source solely because of characteristics of that source (Chiassoni, 2020, p. 148). To this simple directive are added others that result from considering that such source is doctrine or jurisprudence, or that the source is in the same or another country (Chiassoni, 2020, p. 148-151).
Directives for teleological interpretation
The directives for teleological interpretation prescribe that the objective purposes of legal norms should be considered, which would transcend the subjective purposes of legislators (Chiassoni, 2020, p. 151-152).
Chiassoni (2020, p. 152) highlights that the fact that the interpreter mentions objective purposes paradoxically allows him to have wider room for maneuver than that permitted by the forms of interpretation of the legislator’s will.
He (Chiassoni, 2020, p. 151) describes two directives for teleological interpretation: a) the first establishes that a provision should be given the meaning suggested by the objective purpose of the provision itself; b) and the second determines that this purpose should be that of the sector in which the provision is inserted.
Directives for systematic interpretation
The directives for systematic interpretation consist of a generic variant and a specific one (Chiassoni, 2020, p. 153-154). The generic one prescribes that a provision should be given the meaning suggested to it by the set of rules in which it is inserted or in which it should be inserted. The specific one delimits that this set is that of constitutional principles.
Directives for heteronomous interpretation
In the last group of primary directives, there are two directives for heteronomous interpretation (Chiassoni, 2020, p. 154-155). These directives establish that a provision should be given the meaning determined by criteria situated outside of Law, such as the nature of things or a certain morality.
Bibliographic references
CHIASSONI, Pierluigi. Técnica da interpretação jurídica: breviário para juristas. Translated by Daniel Mitidiero, Otávio Domit, Rafael Abreu and Vitor de Paula Ramos. São Paulo: Thomson Reuters Brasil, 2020.