stat interp Flashcards
literal rule
judges give words in statutes their plain ordinary grammatical meaning whatever the consequences
who summed up the literal rule in what case
LORD ESHER IN R V JUDGE OF CITY OF LONDON
what did lord esher state in r v judge of city of london
‘if the words of an act are clear, you must follow them even though they lead to a manifest absurdity’
which cases illustrate the literal rule
- whitely v chappell
- lner railway co v berriman
- fisher v bell
whitely v chappell
the court held that d was not guilty since a dead person is not ‘entitled to vote’
lner railway co v berriman
his widow was not entitled to compensation because the court held that maintaining was not covered by ‘repairing/relaying’
fisher v bell
the court used the literal rule and applied the technical legal meaning of offer for sale from contract law, meant that d not guilty of making an offer for sale
advantage/disadvantage of literal rule? separation of powers
advantage
how is separation of powers an advantage of literal rule
resects SOP and ensures judges carry out will of parliament as stated in wording of legislation. judges not seen to make law
how does the literal rule encourage certainty in the law
plain, ordinary, grammatical meaning used
judges not allowed to alter meaning of words in acts (can in mischief/purposive)
predictable result makes it easier to know what law is and how judges will apply it
how do some judges argue theyre doing parliament a favour by using the literal rule
drawing faulty legislation and loopholes to their attention
where was faulty legislation drawn to parilament’s attention after the literal rule had been applied
fisher v bell- parliament amended case shortly afterwards
when can the literal rule hardly be said to carry out the intention of parliament
where it leads to an absurd conclusion- parliament unlikely to have intended absurdity/injustice
when can the literal rule be said to not have been carrying out the intention of parliament
LNER V BERRIMAN- cannot have been parliaments intention to leave workers maintaining railways unprotected
which case illustrates the disadvantage of the literal rule that words often don’t have one plain meaning
fisher v bell- most people would think a display in a shop window is an offer for sale- judge hearing case probably a minority
why does it save time to use mischief/purposive in some cases
to give meaning that parliament must’ve intended, fisher v bell clearly meant to cover advertisements
what is the golden rule a modification of
the literal rule
who explains the golden rule in which case
lord wenslydale in grey v pearson
who does lw describe golden rule in GVP
the grammatical ordinary sense of the word is to be followed unless it would lead to some absurdity/some repugnance- in which case the grammatical meaning of the words can be modified so as to avoid the absurdity, but no further
what are the two versions of the golden rule
narrow and wide
narrow version
where words are capable of having more than one meaning, the meaning that is least absurd should be used
which cases illustrate narrow version of golden rule
allen
adler v george
allen
d charged with bigamy- whosoever being married shall marry again
law stated that any second marriage void- literal rule used? no one could be convicted
court decided it would be absurd- marry could mean ‘go through ceremony of marriage’- d convicted
adler v george
held that to apply normal meaning of ‘in the vicinity of’ would be absurd and held that it could mean near to and within- chose second meaning to secure convictin