Statutory Interpretation (Paper 1) Flashcards
Four rules of statutory interpretation
Literal, Golden, Mischief, Purposive
The literal rule
Judges give words their plain, ordinary, literal meaning, even if it leads to an absurd outcome
Lord Esher’s quote
If the words of an Act are clear, you must follow them. Even though they lead to a manifest absurdity
Key case for the literal rule
Cheeseman
What happened in the case
Judges used a dictionary to look up the meaning of ‘passengers’ as used in the Town Police Clauses Act 1847
Ruling from the case
Police were not passengers because they were stationed in the toilets and not literally passing by or through
Advantages of the literal rule
Respects parliamentary supremacy, and is easy and predictable
Disadvantages of the literal rule
Words have more than one meaning, can lead to unfair and unjust decisions
The Golden Rule
Modification of the literal rule, starts by using the literal rule but if it would lead to an absurd result, the golden rule can be used to avoid that result
Two approaches of the golden rule
Narrow and broad approach
The narrow approach
Used where a word has more than one meaning, and the court is allowed to choose which meaning to follow
R v Allen
Marry meant either to be legally married to someone, or to go through a marriage ceremony. As it is legally impossible to marry someone twice, the court chose the second meaning
The broad approach
Words only have one meaning but following that meaning would lead to a repugnant situation, so the golden rule is used to avoid that situation
Case for the broad approach
Re Sigsworth
The mischief rule
Looks at why Parliament passed the legislation in the first place, what was the mischief/problem they were trying to remedy
