Opinion ID: 2599971
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Constitutional Construction

Text: [This court] review[s] questions of constitutional law de novo, under the right/wrong standard. [This court] answer[s] questions of constitutional law by exercising [its] own independent judgment based on the facts of the case. In interpreting a constitutional provision, the words of the constitution are presumed to be used in their natural sense... unless the context furnishes some ground to control, qualify or enlarge them. [This court] ha[s] long recognized that the Hawai`i Constitution must be construed with due regard to the intent of the framers and the people adopting it, and the fundamental principle in interpreting a constitutional provision is to give effect to that intent. This intent is to be found in the instrument itself. When the text of a constitutional provision is not ambiguous, the court, in construing it, is not at liberty to search for its meaning beyond the instrument. United Pub. Workers, AFSCME, Local 646 v. Yogi, 101 Hawai`i 46, 49-50, 62 P.3d 189, 192-93 (2002) (citations, internal quotation marks, and parentheses omitted) (ellipsis in original).