Note 119 — Chapter VII · LEGISLATION.

Strict interpretation is an equivocal expression, for it means either literal or narrow. When a provision is ambiguous, one of its meanings may be wider than the other, and the strict (i.e. narrow) sense is not necessarily the strict (i.e. literal) sense. When the equitable interpretation of a law is wider than the literal, it is called extensive; when narrower, it is called restrictive.