Criminal Mini Topic 1- Statutory Interpretation Flashcards
What are the 4 rules of statutory interpretation?
Literal, golden, mischief and purposive.
What is the literal rule?
Where the judge gives the words of the law their plain, ordinary and literal meaning.
What are the two types of golden rule?
Golden narrow, golden wider.
What is the golden narrow rule?
When a word has more than one meaning, the judge is allowed to choose the relevant meaning and ignore the other one.
What is the golden wider rule?
If the words in an Act lead to and absurd outcome, you can change the meaning of the words to avoid the absurd outcome.
What is the mischief rule?
Under this rule the judge will interpret the law in order to resolve the mischief or the problem.
What is the purposive rule?
Judges will look at the overall purpose of the law and they will interpret the Act to achieve the overall purpose.
What is the case for the literal rule?
Cheeseman v DPP (1980)
What is the case for the golden narrow rule?
Allen
What is the case for the golden wider rule?
Resigsworth
What is the case for the mischief rule?
Smith v Hughes
What is the case for the purposive rule?
Royal College of Nursing v DHSS
What are the advantages of the literal rule and golden narrow rule?
- Respects Parliamentary Sovereignty
- Easier to apply and cheaper eg all that is needed is a dictionary
What are the disadvantages of the literal rule and golden narrow rule?
- Leads to absurd outcomes
- Rigid and inflexible rules, words can have more than one meaning even in dictionaries
What are the advantages of the golden wider rule, mischief rule and purposive rule?
- Flexible, allows judges to go beyond the wording of the Act
- Allows the judge to avoid and absurd or unjust outcome and gives the public more confidence in the law