which contravenes the principle embodied in the EU treaties that EU law is supreme is effectively void: Factortame. It is presumed that a statute will be interpreted ejusdem generis ("of the same kind"), so that words are to be construed in sympathy with their immediate context. Where legislation and case law are in conflict, there is a presumption that legislation takes precedence insofar as there is any inconsistency. In the United Kingdom this principle is known as parliamentary sovereignty; but while Parliament has exclusive competence to legislate, the courts (mindful of their historic role of having developed the entire system of common law) retain sole competence to interpret statutes. General principles The age old process of application of the enacted law has led to formulation of certain rules of interpretation. According to Cross, "Interpretation is the process by which the courts determine the meaning of a statutory provision for the purpose of applying it to the situation before them", while Salmond calls it "the process by which the courts seek to ascertain the meaning of the legislature through the medium of authoritative forms in which it is expressed". Interpretation of a particular statute depends upon the degree of creativity applied by the judges or the court in the reading of it, employed to achieve some stated end. It is often mentioned that common law statutes can be interpreted by using the Golden Rule, the Mischief Rule or the Literal Rule. However, according to Francis Bennion, author of texts on statutory interpretation, there are no such simple devices to elucidate complex statutes, "[i]nstead there are a thousand and one interpretative criteria". Intention of the legislature A statute is an edict of a legislature, and the conventional way of interpreting a statute is to seek the 'intention' of its maker. It is the judicature's duty to act upon the true intention of the legislature or the mens or sentential legis. The courts have to objectively determine the interpretation with guidance furnished by the accepted principles. If a statutory provision is open to more than one interpretation the court has to choose that interpretation which represents the true intention of the legislature. The function of the courts is only to expound and not to legislate. Conflict of laws within a federation Federal jurisdictions may presume that either federal or local government authority prevails in the absence of a defined rule. In Canada, there