Doctrine of Reading Down as adopted By Courts
It is convenient to mention here the meaning and scope of the word 'reading down' and 'Severance' dealt with on page 7, para B in Australian Federal Constitutional Law by Colin Howard which reads as follows:
"The High Court presumes the validity of legislation to the extent that it will not of its own motion raise questions of constitutionality. Legislation is treated as valid unless the parties to litigation challenge it on constitutional grounds. The techniques of construction known as reading down and severance are corollaries of this presumption. Reading down puts into operation the principle that so far as it is reasonably possible to do so, legislation should be construed as being within power. It has the practical effect that where an Act is expressed in language of a generality which makes it capable, if read literally, of applying to matters beyond the relevant legislative power, the court will construe it in a more limited sense so as to keep it within power.”
And Further :
“It does not necessarily follow that because a statute cannot be read down it is wholly invalid. The presumption of valid- ity leads naturally to the view that where a statute cannot be held wholly valid it should be held valid at least to the extent that it is reasonably possible or practicable to do so. Where reading down is not available the court next decides where there is a case for severing the invalid parts of the statute from the parts which, standing alone, are valid. If this can be done the court declares only the invalid parts to be beyond power and leaves the remainder operative[1]”
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