The golden rule Flashcards
What is the golden rule?
It starts with the literal meaning but if this produces an absurd result which Parliament could not have intended, the court can avoid it by using the golden rule to substitute a reasonable meaning
What are the two approaches?
narrow and broad
What is the narrow approach?
When a word has multiple meanings so the judges can pick which one they use
What is the broad approach?
When a word has 1 meaning but it would produce an absurd or morally repugnant result
What approach was R V Allen?
narrow
R V Allen incident
.Man accused of bigamy
.Goes through 2 marriage ceremonies to 2 women
.1st marriage is valid and legal but 2nd one isn’t because he wasn’t divorced
How did R V Allen use the golden rule?
The key word was MARRY and it’s 2 definitions:
.To be legally married (not guilty)
.To go through a marriage ceremony (guilty)
R V Allen held?
The court chose the meaning of marry as to have gone through a marriage ceremony and so he was found guilty
What approach does Re V Sigsworth use?
Broad
Re V Sigsworth incident?
.Woman dies without a will so inheritance automatically goes to next of kin
.Her next of kin was her son but also her killer
How was the golden rule used for Re V Sigsworth?
It would be morally wrong to let the her killer inherit her money as he killed her
Re V Sigsworth held?
The judge ignored the wording and chose the morally right decision
Addler V George incident?
.Protesting inside an army base
.It is illegal to protest in the vicinity of the base
How was the golden rule used for Addler V George?
The word vicinity means the surrounding area of something but the court ruled that vicinity and inside were the same as they were still obstructing army officers
Addler V George held?
Guilty as army officers were still obstructed despite of where they were
