55Errors when exercising certain powers or duties may be corrected

##### 55. Errors when exercising certain powers or duties may be corrected Where a written law confers a power or imposes a duty upon a person to do any act or thing of an administrative or executive character or to make any appointment, the power or duty may be exercised or performed as often as is necessary to correct any error or omission in any previous purported exercise or performance of the power or duty, notwithstanding that the power or duty is not in general capable of being exercised or performed from time to time. ##### 56. “May” imports a discretion, “shall” is imperative (1) Where in a written law the word may is used in conferring a power, such word shall be interpreted to imply that the power so conferred may be exercised or not, at discretion. (2) Where in a written law the word shall is used in conferring a function, such word shall be interpreted to mean that the function so conferred must be performed.