Legal Fiction — Interpretation of Statutes Notes

Legal Fiction

The law sometimes tells you to believe a thing that is not true — a tenant is “deemed to be” the owner, a company is a “person”, a dead man is “deemed to have survived”. Once the legislature creates such a fiction, the court must carry it to its logical end, imagining as real all the consequences that would flow if it were true. Lord Asquith’s famous line — “one must imagine as real the consequences… and not boggle” — is the key to this topic.

What is a legal fiction, and how is it construed?

A legal fiction is a statutory assumption that something is true which is, in fact, not true (or may not be) — created by words like “deemed to be”, “as if”, or “shall be treated as”. The legislature uses a fiction to attach the legal consequences of one state of affairs to a different state of affairs, for a particular purpose.

How it is construed:

1. Carry the fiction to its logical conclusion. Once a fiction is created for a purpose, the court must assume all those facts and consequences which would inevitably flow from the fictional state of affairs, as if it were real — imagining the consequences, and not stopping halfway (Lord Asquith in East End Dwellings).

2. Confine the fiction to its purpose. A fiction is created for a definite purpose, and it must not be extended beyond that purpose or the language that creates it. You take the fiction as far as its object requires, and no further; you do not use it to produce consequences the legislature did not intend.

3. Do not question the assumed fact. Within its field, the court does not ask whether the fictional fact is true; it must be taken as true and its logical consequences worked out.

4. Identify the fiction by its language. “Deemed to be” is the classic marker (though “deemed” can occasionally be merely clarificatory); “as if”, “treated as”, and “shall be presumed” may also create fictions.

Why the law uses fictions. They are a drafting convenience — instead of spelling out every consequence, the legislature says “treat X as Y”, and all the consequences of Y then follow automatically. This is efficient but must be handled carefully, because a fiction takes the law away from reality for a limited purpose only.

East End Dwellings Co. v Finsbury Borough Council (1952) — Lord Asquith: “If you are bidden to treat an imaginary state of affairs as real, you must surely, unless prohibited from doing so, also imagine as real the consequences and incidents which … must inevitably have flowed from it … one must not boggle when one is bidden to.”

In Simple Terms: A legal fiction tells you to treat something as true which is not — “deemed to be”. Once the legislature does that, you must follow the fiction all the way to its logical consequences, as if it were real — but only for the purpose it was created, never beyond it.

🧩 WORKED EXAMPLE — “Deemed to have been passed”

Facts. A statute provides that an order not disposed of within a period “shall be deemed to have been passed” in the applicant’s favour. The authority argues the deemed order has none of the consequences of a real order.

Rule. A legal fiction is carried to its logical conclusion — all consequences that would flow if the assumed state were real must be assumed — but confined to the purpose for which it was created.

Apply. Since the order is deemed to have been passed, the court must treat it as if actually passed and give it all the consequences a real order of that kind would have (e.g. its enforceability), for the purpose the fiction serves.

Conclusion. The deemed order carries the consequences of a real order within the fiction’s purpose; the authority cannot accept the fiction but deny its logical effects. But the fiction is not stretched beyond that purpose.

flowchart TD
    ROOT["Legal fiction ('deemed to be')"]:::root
    ROOT --> A["Treat an untrue state as true"]:::leaf
    A --> B["Carry it to its LOGICAL conclusion"]:::leaf
    B --> C["Imagine all consequences as real (East End Dwellings)"]:::leaf
    A --> D["Confine it to the PURPOSE it was created for"]:::leaf
    D --> E["Do not extend the fiction beyond that purpose"]:::leaf
    classDef root fill:#FFF8DC,stroke:#000,stroke-width:1px,color:#000;
    classDef leaf fill:#E6F3FF,stroke:#1E3A8A,color:#000;
    linkStyle default stroke:#888,stroke-width:1px;

Case Laws

• East End Dwellings Co. v Finsbury Borough Council (1952) — a legal fiction must be carried to its logical conclusion; imagine as real all its consequences.
• State of Bombay v Pandurang Vinayak Chaphalkar (1953) — a fiction is limited to the purpose for which it is created and not extended beyond it.
• M. Venugopal v Divisional Manager, LIC (1994) — the full effect of a deeming provision is given within its purpose.

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