Opinion ID: 4542941
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Interpretation of statutes and ordinances

Text: Statutory interpretation is a question of law reviewable de novo. This court’s statutory construction is guided by established rules: First, the fundamental starting point for statutory interpretation is the language of the statute itself. Second, where the statutory language is plain and unambiguous, our sole 21  FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST’S HAWAIʻI REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER  duty is to give effect to its plain and obvious meaning. Third, implicit in the task of statutory construction is our foremost obligation to ascertain and give effect to the intention of the legislature, which is to be obtained primarily from the language contained in the statute itself. Fourth, when there is doubt, doubleness of meaning, or indistinctiveness or uncertainty of an expression used in a statute, an ambiguity exists. When interpreting a municipal ordinance, we apply the same rules of construction that we apply to statutes. Rees v. Carlisle, 113 Hawaiʻi 446, 452, 153 P.3d 1131, 1137 (2007) (citations omitted).