rules

• What are the 4 different types of rules?

  • literal
  • golden (wide & narrow)
  • mischief rule
  • purposive rule
• What do the rules do?

  helps judges decipher what parliament means in an act
• what rules are domestic?


  • literal
  • golden
  • mischief
• what rule is national?

  purposive
• THE LITERAL RULE:
• What is the literal rule?

  when judges give words their ordinary, dictionary definition meaning
• Will judges always base a case on the literal definition of words?

  yes - even if it leads to absurdity or hardship
• What is the literal rule in relation to the rule of law?

  It is most respectful of parliamentary sovereignty
• What is the case that created the literal rule?

  R v judge of city of london court 1892
• What did Lord Esher say in this case?


  If the words of an act are clear you must follow them even if they lead to absurdity
• What cases had the literal rule applied to them?

  • Whitely v Chappell (1868)
  • LNER v Berriman (1946)
  • R v Harris (1836)
• explain whitely v chappell (1868)

  • defendant impersonated a dead person to vote twice
  • its an offence to impersonate "any person entitled to vote"
  • A dead person isn't literally entitled to vote so defendant not guilty
• explain LNER v berriman (1946)

  • Claimant's husband was oiling railway points when he got hit & killed
  • The Fatal accidents act 1864 said the rail company should have a lookout while someone is "repairing or relaying"
  • HL said that "oiling points" was mainntaining the rail and not repairing so no compensation was given
• explain R v Harris (1836)

  • Defendant bitten off friend's nose
  • The offences against the person act 1828 states its an offence to "stab, cut or wound a person" this implies use of a weapon
  • defendant's teeth not classed as a weapon so not guilty
• give the advantages of the literal rule

  • Respectful of parliamentary sovereignty
  • Respects separation of powers
  • Laws are more certain
• explain respects parliamentary sovereignty

  Judges follow literal meaning of words that parliament have chosen
• explain respects separation of powers

  Judges are interpreting the law not creating it
• explain laws are more certain

  easy to predict how judges will apply it
• give the disadvantages of the literal rule pls

  • assumes every statute will be perfectly drafted
  • following exact words can lead to unjust / harsh outcomes
  • professor michael zander criticised the literal rule as being lazy
• what case evidence assumes every statute is perfectly drafted

  Whiteley v berriman (1868)
• what case evidence supports unjust / harsh outcomes

  Berriman (1946)
• define the golden rule

  A modification of the literal rule and may be used if the judge considers that the literal rule would lead to an absurd outcome
• what are the two different approaches of the golden rule?

  • narrow
  • wide
• NARROW APPROACH:
• When is the narrow approach used?

  when there are two possible interpretations or meanings of a word
• what mist the court do when choosing the meaning of a word?

  select the "least absurd" meaning of the word
• What are the case examples where the narrow approach was applied?

  • Adler v George (1964)
  • R v Allen (1872)
• explain what happened in Adler v george

  • defendant went onto military base & obstructed someone
  • case questioned due to "vicinity" because guy was actually IN the base and not around the area of it
  • In S3 Official secrets act 1920 its an offence to obstruct a member of the armed forces in the "vicinity of a prohibited place"
  • golden rule used to presume offence covered both within & around a prohibited place
• explain what happened in R v Allen (1872)

  • Allen was married & had second marriage ceremony with another woman
  • Offences against the person act 1861 states "whomsever being married shall marry any other person during the lifetime of his spouse shall commit bigamy
  • if someone is legally married its not possible to have a second legal marriage
  • golden rule interpreted "shall marry" by someone going through a ceremony of marriage so Allen was convicted of bigamy
• WIDE APPROACH:
• what is the wide approach?

  words are able to be modified to avoid a repugnant (unacceptable) situation that originated from a word only having one meaning
• What are the case examples where the wide approach was used?

  Re Sigsworth (1935)
• explain what happened in Re sigsworth

  • mother didn't make will & son murdered her
  • In the administration of justice act 1926 inheritance laws said her estate will be inherited by her next of kin so her son
  • judges modified interpretation of words as they had no ambiguity. so the son couldn't inherit
• give the strengths of the golden rule

  • respects exact words of parliament
  • provides an "escape route"
• explain respects exact words of parliament

  only does this as long as no limited situations where they lead to absurdity & injustice
• give the case evidence for provides an "escape route"

  Re sigsworth - it avoids the worst problems of the literal rule
• give the disadvantages of the golden rule

  • unpredictable
  • subjective and unclear
  • michael zander strikes again - described it as a "feeble parachute"
• explain unpredictable

  only gets used on rare occasions and should have been used in

  • LNER v Berriman
  • whiteley v chappell
• explain subjective and unclear

  can be interpreted differently by different judges
• THE MISCHIEF RULE