Generalia specialibus non derogant: special statutes prevail when general and specific provisions cannot be harmonised.

When a general enactment and a special enactment cover the same subject-matter, the operative rule is harmonious construction under which the general law yields to the special law to the extent of inconsistency. The maxim generalia specialibus non derogant directs courts to harmonize statutes where possible, and where reconciliation is impossible the specific provision controls as an exception to the general, subject to any clear indication that the general enactment was intended to operate universally.

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