Ao3 Literal Rule

Question 1

Expresses Parliament true intention
(Advantage)

Answer 1

Literal rule involves taking the word as it is printed and is applied to the case so that words of our democratically elected body are used.
Upholds parliament sov as judges are not changing the meaning or interpreting it in thier own way.

Question 2

Makes cases predictable
(Advantages)

Answer 2

As the same meaning is applied every time, the outcome of cases is very predictable for everyone involved.
This means people don’t waste money of taking a case to court as the outcome is already decided.

Question 3

Rigid and lack flexibility
(Disadvantage)

Answer 3

Law cannot develop as judges have to apply the normal grammatical meaning even if it leads to a bad decision.
Judge have been accused to being too literal and considering words in the wider context.

Question 4

Inconsistencies
(Disadvantage)

Answer 4

Words with more than one meaning can lead to unjust or absurd outcome as the literal rule only use the more common meaning.
This goes against the point of the literal rule which is meant to add certainty in the law.