Section 17203

Citation: Section 17203
Parent Document: Kraus v. Trinity Management Services, Inc., 999 P.2d 718 (2000)
Jurisdiction: California (state)
Effective Date: 2000-06-05
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1159700/kraus-v-trinity-management-serv... ↗

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A first principle of statutory construction is that the intent of the Legislature is paramount. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1859.) The court's role in construing a statute is to ascertain the intent of the Legislature so as to effectuate the purpose of the law and, in doing so the court looks first to the words of the statute. (People v. Birkett (1999) 21 Cal.4th 226, 231, 87 Cal.Rptr.2d 205, 980 P.2d 912.) If the language is ambiguous, we may look to the history and background of the statute to ascertain legislative intent. (Id. at p. 232, 87 Cal.Rptr.2d 205, 980 P.2d 912.) Also, a court must, whenever possible, construe a statute so as to preserve its constitutional validity. (Hutnick v. United States Fidelity & Guaranty Co. (1988) 47 Cal.3d 456, 466, 253 Cal.Rptr. 236, 763 P.2d 1326; People v. Davenport (1985) 41 Cal.3d 247, 264, 221 Cal.Rptr. 794, 710 P.2d 861.) We presume that the Legislature understands the constitutional limits on its power and intends that legislation respect those limits.

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