A. “Shall” and “must” express a duty, obligation, requirement or condition precedent. B. “May” confers a power, authority, privilege or right.

Terms Used In New Mexico Statutes 12-2A-4

  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.

C. “May not”, “must not” and “shall not” prohibit the exercise of a power, authority, privilege or right.