Severability

Severability

In law, severability refers to a provision in a contract which states that if parts of the contract are held to be illegal or otherwise unenforceable, the remainder of the contract should still apply. Sometimes, severability clauses will state that some provisions to the contract are so essential to the contract's purpose that if they are illegal or unenforceable, the contract as a whole will be voided. However, in many legal jurisdictions, a severability clause will not be applied if it changes the fundamental nature of the contract, and that instead the contract will be void; thus, often this is not explicitly stated in the severability clause.

Severability clauses are also commonly found in legislation, where they state that if some provisions of the law, or certain applications of those provisions, are found to be unconstitutional, the remaining provisions, or the remaining applications of those provisions, will, nonetheless, continue in force as law.


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • severability — the rule of construction of contracts that allows a court to ignore a part of a contract that would render it in some way defective and to read instead what is left. It has been applied to restrictive covenants where, if the words are capable of… …   Law dictionary

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  • severability clause — n: a clause (as in a contract) which states that provisions are severable; esp: a clause in a statute that makes the statute s parts or provisions severable so that one part can be invalidated without invalidating the whole – called also… …   Law dictionary

  • Severability clause — The severability clause (sometimes referred to as a salvatorius clause, from the Latin word salvatorius ) is the name for a special clause that regulates the legal consequences or the applicability of the remaining clauses of a contract when some …   Wikipedia

  • severability doctrine — If promise sued on is related to an illegal transaction, but is not illegal in and of itself, severability doctrine applies, and recovery should not be denied, if aid of illegal transaction is not relied on or required, or if promise sued on is… …   Black's law dictionary

  • severability of contract — The quality in a contract in contrast with entirety. The quality which renders the contract susceptible to division into sets to be performed, each set embracing a performance on the one side which is an agreed exchange for performance on the… …   Ballentine's law dictionary

  • severability of statute — A concept applicable when a part of a statute is unconstitutional, the question being whether severability permits the saving of the part not unconstitutional in itself. The quality of a statute in the respect that a part of it has meaning and… …   Ballentine's law dictionary

  • severability — noun see severable …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • severability — See severable. * * * …   Universalium

  • severability — separability …   Glossary of international commercial arbitration

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