Legal Definitions - doctrine of the last preceding antecedent

The doctrine of the last preceding antecedent, also known as the rule of the last antecedent, is a principle of interpretation used in legal and grammatical contexts. It states that a qualifying phrase or clause applies only to the noun or phrase immediately preceding it.

"The teacher gave pencils to the students who passed the test."

In this sentence, the qualifying phrase "who passed the test" applies only to "students," not to "pencils" or "teacher." Therefore, only the students who passed the test received pencils from the teacher.

Another example:

"I gave cookies to my friends who came to the party."

Here, the qualifying phrase "who came to the party" applies only to "friends," not to "cookies" or "I." Therefore, only the friends who came to the party received cookies from the speaker.

These examples illustrate how the doctrine of the last preceding antecedent helps to clarify the intended meaning of a sentence by limiting the scope of a qualifying phrase or clause.