Literal Rule Flashcards
Under the literal rule what will courts do?
they will give words their plain, ordinary or literal meaning even if the result is not very sensible
Which Lord expressed the idea of the literal rule?
Lord Esher
In what case did Lord Esher express the idea of the literal rule?
in R v Judge of the City of London Court 1892
When was the literal rule developed?
19th century
What was the main rule in the 20th century?
the literal rule
What often happened in old cases when the literal rule was used?
it could lead to absurd decisions or to possible injustice
What are the 2 example cases of the literal rule?
- Whiteley v Chappell 1868
- London & North Eastern Railway Co. V Berriman 1946
(L&NERC v Berriman)
In Whiteley v Chappell 1868 what was the defendant charged with?
charged under a section which made it an office to impersonate ‘any person entitled to vote’
What did the defendant do in Whiteley v Chappell 1868?
the defendant had pretended to be a person whose name was on the voters’ list but who had died
What was the outcome of the case Whiteley v Chappell 1868?
the court held that the defendant was not guilty since a dead person, is not, in the literal meaning of the words ‘entitled to vote’
Was the outcome of the use of the literal rule just in Whiteley v Chappell ?
the literal rule in this case made the law absurd
What was the facts of the case London & North Eastern Railway Co. V Berriman 1946?
A railway worker was killed while doing maintenance work. His widow tried to claim compensation because there had not been a look out man provide by the railway company in accordance with a regulation under the Fatal Accidents Act
What did the Fatal Accidents Act state , which was the Act used in London & North Eastern Railway Co. V Berriman 1946?
stated that a lookout should be provided for men working on or near the railway line ‘for the purposes of relaying or repairing’ it.
What were the words in dispute in London & North Eastern Railway Co. v Berriman 1946 ?
‘relaying’ and ‘repairing’
Why did Mrs Berriman’s claim fail?
as the courts took ‘relaying’ and ‘repairing’ in their literal meaning and said that oiling points was maintaining the line not relaying or repairing
Was the use of the literal rule in London & North Eastern Railway CO. Bremen 1946 just?
the rule led to a harsh an unjust decision
How is the literal rule important in supporting Parliamentary Sovereignty ?
as Parliament is our law making body and it is right that judges should apply the law exactly as it is written
What does using the literal rule prevent ?
it prevents unelected judges from making law
How does using the literal rule make the law more certain?
as it should be interpreted exactly as it is written
What is a positive effect of having certainty from the literal rule?
this makes it easier for people to know what the law is and how judges will apply it
What does the literal rule assume which is a key disadvantage?
that every Act will be perfectly drafted
What case illustrates the fact that every Act is not perfectly drafted and so an Act cannot cover every situation ?
Whiteley v Chappell 1868
How is the use of the literal rule hard to do with some words?
some words have more than one meaning, often in dictionaries words are defined with several different meanings
What case illustrates that following the words of an Act exactly can lead to unfair or unjust decisions?
London & North Eastern Railways Co. v Berriman 1946
What professor has denounced the literal rule as being mechanical and divorced from the realities of the use of language?
Michael Zander
What did Professor Michael Zander say about the literal rule?
that it is mechanical and divorced from the realities of the use of the language
