In a very broad sense, legislation plays the same role in France as judicial decisions play in common law countries. Legislative rules provide the starting point from which lawyers and judges work toward their goal, the most just solution for the problem at hand. Usually the statute provides a clear answer to the problem. In those cases, the statute is strictly applied, more because it is just than because it is a statute. Because of this it often appears that legislation is the law and that the judge’s role is simply to apply automatically the ready-made solutions provided by the legislature. Nevertheless, there are a greatly many cases where the judge’s role is far from creative. The legislature sometimes deliberately speaks in very general terms; it has said that divorce can be obtained where there are serious grounds; contracts must be performed in good faith; a person must repair the damage caused another by his fault; the penalty for a crime can be reduced if there are extenuating circumstances; an act of a government official is invalid if in excess of his powers. The legislature, however, has not defined serious grounds or fault, nor explained what is required by good faith or what constitutes extenuating circumstances. Of course, statutory law is being applied in all of these cases, but it is essential to recognize that the statute takes on real meaning only as the courts interpret it. The way in which the U. S. Supreme Court interprets the U. S. Constitution can give a common law lawyer an idea of how French courts interpret the legislation from which they work. When French lawyers and judges strictly apply a statute, it is usually because ______.