The Literal Rule Flashcards
What is the literal rule?
Involves interpreting a statute by applying the literal definition of an unclear word using the plain, and ordinary dictionary meaning of words.
What is one advantage and one disadvantage of the literal rule?
Whilst the rule may sometimes lead to unfair decisions, it also respects Parliamentary supremacy by following Parliament’s wording exactly.
What is Case 1 for the literal rule?
LNER v Berriman
What happened in Case 1?
V was maintaining the tracks (i.e. oiling them) with no lookout. A train killed him on the tracks. His wife sued LNER.
What Act did the courts have to interpret in Case 1, and what did it say?
The Fatal Accidents Act 1846, which stated that a worker must have a lookout while relaying or repairing the tracks.
How did the courts rule in Case 1?
Ruled that V was only doing routine maintenance, so therefore did not need a lookout. Making LNER not liable for compensation.
What is Case 2 for the literal rule?
DPP v Cheeseman
What happened in Case 2?
He was said to be masturbating in a public toilet. He was charged with exposing himself to passengers in a street under the Town Police Clauses Act 1847.
What did the Town Police Clauses Act 1847 say?
It is an offence to wilfully and indecently expose one’s person in a street to the annoyance of passengers.
Why did the Town Police Clauses Act not make sense in Case 2?
The toilet was said to be a street, but ‘passengers’ was defined in the dictionary of 1847 as anyone passing through a place for its ordinary purpose.
How did the Courts rule in Case 2?
As the police were not there for the toilet’s ordinary purpose, but to arrest D, they were not technically passengers and so D was found not guilty.
