Golden Rule Flashcards
Advantages of Golden Rule 1
Issue: One advantage is it avoids absurd decisions.
• Cause: This is because judges can change the meanings of words in an Act to ensure they make sense in circumstances.
• Example: In R v Allen, it would have been absurd to defined “marry” as ‘to be legally married’ as then no one could ever commit bigamy. Instead judges chose the meaning ‘to go through a ceremony’ to find D guilty as Parliament wanted.
• Consequence: This is an advantage because it means justice will be served in cases where, if the literal rule had been used, the wording of the Act would have lead to an absurd decision.
Advantages of Golden Rule 2
Issue: One advantage is that the golden rule puts Parliament’s
true intentions into effect.
• Cause: This is because judges can change the words of an Act
to make the statute actually do what Parliament wanted.
• Example: In Adler v George, clearly Parliament’s intention was to stop people from obstructing members of the armed forces when carrying out their work. This was the intention regardless of whether that obstruction occurred inside or outside a prohibited place. By using the broad approach to modify the meaning of the statute this enabled the court to meet Parliament’s intentions.
• Consequence: This is an advantage because judges can enforce the law to give effect to what Parliament intended.
Advantages of Golden Rule 3
Issue: One advantage is that the golden rule applies to words
with multiple meanings.
• Cause: This is because judges can choose between different
meanings when using the narrow approach.
• Example: In R v Allen, where marriage could have meant ‘legally marry’ or ‘go through a ceremony’; the court were able to choose the second meaning to avoid an absurd result.
• Consequence: This is an advantage because it fixes the problem with the literal rule in these situations and so makes the law quick and easy to interpret.
Disadvantage of Golden Rule 1
Issue: A disadvantage is it creates uncertainty.
• Cause: The golden rule creates uncertainty because all judges will differ in their opinions of what is absurd and so may disagree on when or how to change the words in an Act.
• Example: In R v Allen, some judges may not have thought that D having two wives was an absurd decision and so may have stuck with the literal rule.
• Consequence: This is bad because it leads to inconsistent decisions and lawyers and defendants will be unable to prepare properly for their cases.
Disadvantage of Golden Rule 2
Issue: A disadvantage is it erodes Parliamentary Supremacy.
• Cause: This is because judges are allowed to change the wording of an Act and so are clearly changing the law from how Parliament wrote it.
• Example: In Adler v George, judges changed the wording to ‘in or in the vicinity’ of a prohibited place, giving a whole new meaning to the phrase which Parliament did not draft.
• Consequence: This is bad because it is Parliament’s job, not judges’, to make the law due to them being elected and representing society. Therefore the golden rule gives lots of undemocratic power to judges.
Disadvantage of Golden Rule 3
Issue: A disadvantage of the golden rule is that the narrow
approach is inflexible.
• Cause: This is because judges still have to choose between two set meanings of a word.
• Example: In Adler v George, there may have been many definitions of vicinity, but none of them would have applied well to the facts so judges had to use the broad approach.
• Consequence: This is a disadvantage because judges are still very restricted when using the narrow approach and may not actually be able to avoid the absurdity.
