R.I. Gen. Laws
Rhode Island General Laws

R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-30-2 (2026)

Power to construe

✓ current as of July 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section RI-LEGwebserver.rilegislature.gov JustiaTitle on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

Any person interested under a deed, will, written contract, or other writings constituting a contract, or whose rights, status, or other legal relations are affected by a statute, municipal ordinance, contract, or franchise, may have determined any question of construction or validity arising under the instrument, statute, ordinance, contract, or franchise and obtain a declaration of rights, status, or other legal relations thereunder.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 26 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1962–2023 · leading case: Taylor v. Marshall, 376 A.2d 712 (R.I. 1977).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Taylor v. Marshall, 376 A.2d 712 (R.I. 1977). · cites it 5× “Superior Court a judgment was entered declaring (1) that defendants had no jurisdiction over the proposed sale and conveyance; (2) that therefore it was not necessary, required or proper for plaintiffs to apply to the planning board or pursue other administrative remedies; (3)…”
Capital Props., Inc. v. State, 749 A.2d 1069 (R.I. 1999). · cites it 2× “G.L. §§ 9-30-2 “Power to construe,” 9-30-3 Construction of contracts”, and 9-30-4 “Fiduciaries and other persons entitled to declaration of rights.”
Haviland v. Simmons, 45 A.3d 1246 (R.I. 2012). · cites it 2× “Section 9-30-2 of the UDJA provides: “Any person interested under a deed, will, written contract, or other writings constituting a contract, or whose rights, status, or other legal relations are affected by a statute, municipal ordinance, contract, or franchise, may have…”
RIH Med. Found., Inc. v. Nolan, 723 A.2d 1123 (R.I. 1999). · cites it 3× “1956 § 42-35-7 and G.L.1956 § 9-30-2 seeking a declaration that it was not subject to health care facility licensure and seeking injunctive relief against DOH’s threatened action.”
Mendez v. Brites, 849 A.2d 329 (R.I. 2004). · cites it 2× “Section 9-30-2 provides, in pertinent part that "[a]ny person interested under a * * * written contract * * * or whose rights, status, or other legal relations are affected by a * * * contract * * * may have determined any question of construction or validity arising under the *…”
Canario v. Culhane, 752 A.2d 476 (R.I. 2000). · cites it 2× “Specifically § 9-30-2 provides as follows: “Any person interested under a deed, will, written contract, or other writings constituting a contract, or whose rights, status, or other legal relations are affected by a statute, municipal ordinance, contract, or franchise, may have…”
Pennsylvania Gen. Ins. Co. v. Becton, 475 A.2d 1032 (R.I. 1984). · cites it 2× “The Uniform Declaratory Judgments Act enunciates this purpose: “Any person interested under a deed, will, written contract or other writings constituting a contract * * * may have determined any question of construction or validity arising under the instrument [or] contract * *…”
Ret. Bd. of the Employees' Ret. Sys. v. Corrente, 111 A.3d 301 (R.I. 2015). · cites it 3× “Regarding declaratory-judgment jurisdiction, the trial justice found that, because the HSO was “silent on the issue of judicial review,” the Superior Court had subject-matter jurisdiction pursuant to the Uniform Declaratory Judgments Act, G.L. 1956 § 9-30-2, 9 to “adjudicate…”
Robinson v. Mayo, 849 A.2d 351 (R.I. 2004). · cites it 2× “Therefore, as in Mendez , we shall assume arguendo, without deciding, that the plaintiff in this case had standing to bring a declaratory-judgment action against an insurer pursuant to G.L. 1956 § 9-30-2 of the Uniform Declaratory Judgments Act.”
Lamb v. Perry, 225 A.2d 521 (R.I. 1967). · cites it 2× “” Section 9-30-2 provides: “Any person * * * whose rights, status or -other legal relationsi -are affected by a statute, municipal ordinance * * * may have determined any question of .”
Town of Tiverton v. Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 23, 372 A.2d 1273 (R.I. 1977). “One argument Tiverton presents is that the Superior Court was without jurisdiction because the police had failed to exhaust their administrative remedies through SLRB.”
Lombardi v. Goodyear Loan Co., 549 A.2d 1025 (R.I. 1988). “1956 (1985 Reenactment) § 9-30-2, which reads in part: “Power to construe.”
Show all 26 citing cases →
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.