Hawaii Revised Statutes

Haw. Rev. Stat. § 1-16 (2026)

  Laws in pari materia

✓ current as of July 2026
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     §1-16  Laws in pari materia.  Laws in pari materia, or upon the same subject matter, shall be construed with reference to each other.  What is clear in one statute may be called in aid to explain what is doubtful in another. [CC 1859, §11; RL 1925, §11; RL 1935, §12; RL 1945, §11; RL 1955, §1-21; HRS §1-16]

 

Attorney General Opinions

 

  Sections 1-29 and 92-7 both address issue of time in relation to actions required by law, must be read in pari materia.  Att. Gen. Op. 92-6.

  Cited in construing "child".  Att. Gen. Op. 93-1.

 

Case Notes

 

  Consideration of other laws in arriving at meaning.  236 F.2d 622, 625; 235 F. Supp. 990, 998; aff'd 352 F.2d 735; 1 H. 31; 1 H. 457, 259 (464); 8 H. 715, 720; 15 H. 325, 332; 22 H. 589, 591; 25 H. 397, 403; 26 H. 469, 475; 35 H. 21, 23; 45 H. 1, 13, 361 P.2d 374; 47 H. 87, 110, 384 P.2d 536; 47 H. 361, 388, 389 P.2d 439.

  County nonliability statute and Contribution among Tortfeasors Act in pari materia.  283 F. Supp. 854.

  Statute should be construed with reference to system of laws of which it is a part; exemption of bequest "otherwise taxed" does not refer to federal tax.  14 H. 38.

  Consideration of subsequent act in pari materia.  37 H. 252, 258; 43 H. 84, 85.

  Meaning of words or phrases used in two or more sections of a statute presumed the same.  46 H. 164, 172, 377 P.2d 932; 49 H. 624, 635-6, 425 P.2d 1014.

  Sections of chapter 101, eminent domain, in pari materia.  50 H. 237, 437 P.2d 321.

  Sections 651-44, 651-49 and 634-64, relating to attachment, are in pari materia.  51 H. 164, 454 P.2d 116.

  Excise tax law and income tax law should be construed in relation to each other.  56 H. 644, 547 P.2d 1343.

  Principle applied to welfare fraud and general theft statutes.  61 H. 79, 595 P.2d 291.

  Cited:  3 H. 90, 98; 3 H. 223, 229; 5 H. 73, 74; 20 H. 114, 119; 34 H. 935, 938; 73 H. 81, 829 P.2d 1325.

 

 

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 244 cases (29 in the last 5 years), 1969–2026 · leading case: State v. Schnabel., 279 P.3d 1237 (Haw. 2012).
State v. Schnabel., 279 P.3d 1237 (Haw. 2012). · cites it 20× “]” (Citing HRS § 1-16) (1993)). According to Respondent, “[t]he clause ‘[n]otwithstanding any other law to the contrary,’ prefacing HRS § 571-84.”
State v. Arceo, 928 P.2d 843 (Haw. 1996). · cites it 8× “" HRS § 1-16 (1993); Richardson v. City and County of Honolulu, 76 Hawai`i 46, 55, 868 P.”
Adams v. CDM Media USA, Inc., 346 P.3d 70 (Haw. 2015). · cites it 12× “” HRS § 1-16. Further, when construing a statute, courts are “bound to give effect to all parts of a statute, and no clause, sentence, or word shall be construed as superfluous, void, or insignificant if a construction can be legitimately found which will give force to and…”
Beneficial Hawaii, Inc. v. Kida, 30 P.3d 895 (Haw. 2001). · cites it 8× “" HRS § 1-16 (1993). Beneficial Hawaii argues that HRS § 454-8, see supra note 1, does not apply to all contracts between a mortgage broker and a borrower, but, rather, only to "brokerage contracts," the statute's object being to preclude unlicensed brokers from claiming…”
In Re the Contested Case Hearing on Water Use, Well Constr., & Pump Installation Permit Applications, Filed by Wai'ola O Moloka'i, Inc., 83 P.3d 664 (Haw. 2004). · cites it 8× “"Laws in pari materia, or upon the same subject matter, shall be construed with reference to each other.”
Richardson v. City & Cnty. of Honolulu, 868 P.2d 1193 (Haw. 1994). · cites it 8× “" HRS § 1-16 (1985); Kam v. Noh, 70 Haw. 321, 325 , 770 P.”
Hungate v. Law Off. of David B. Rosen, 391 P.3d 1 (Haw. 2017). · cites it 4× “See HRS § 1-16 (2009) (“Laws in pari materia, or upon the same subject matter, shall be construed with reference to each other.”
Gray v. Admin. Dir. of Court, 931 P.2d 580 (Haw. 1997). · cites it 6× “Construing HRS § 286-261(b) in pari materia with HRS § 286-261(c), see HRS § 1-16 (1993), supra at note 15, we are unwilling to read the verb “may” in such a fashion.”
Williamson v. Hawai'i Paroling Auth., 35 P.3d 210 (Haw. 2001). · cites it 8× “" HRS § 1-16 (1993). State v. Valentine, 93 Hawai`i 199, 204-05, 998 P.”
State v. Dudoit, 978 P.2d 700 (Haw. 1999). · cites it 8× “" HRS § 1-16 (1993). State v. Stocker, 90 Hawai`i 85, 90-91, 976 P.”
Lingle v. Hawai'i Gov't Employees Ass'n, AFSCME, Local 152, 111 P.3d 587 (Haw. 2005). · cites it 4× “" HRS § 1-16 (1993) mandates that "laws in pari materia, or upon the same subject matter, shall be construed with reference to each other.”
State v. Bohannon, 74 P.3d 980 (Haw. 2003). · cites it 6× “" HRS § 1-16 (1993). State v. Rauch, 94 Hawai`i 315, 322-23, 13 P.”
— Haw. Rev. Stat. § 1-16(1993) — 5 cases
In Re Water Use Permit Applications, 9 P.3d 409 (Haw. 2000).
State v. Bovee., 394 P.3d 760 (Haw. 2017).
Gold Coast Neighborhood Ass'n v. State., 403 P.3d 214 (Haw. 2017).
State v. Kane, 951 P.2d 934 (Haw. 1998).
State v. Van Dyke, 69 P.3d 88 (Haw. 2003).
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.