Explain the literal rule

• Literal Rule


  must give the "plain ordinary meaning"
• R v Judge of City of London

  Lord Esher said "If the words of an Act are clear, you must follow them, even though they lead to a manifest absurdity"
• Whitley v Chappel


  a statute aimed at preventing electoral malpractice was made a nonsense of when the accused was found not guilty of the offence when he impersonated a dead person to use his vote. The court held, using the literal rule, a dead person was not "entitled to vote" which is an absurd outcome
• London and NE Railways (LNER) v Berriman

  The widow of a railway worker killed at work, was denied compensation due to the literal interpretation of the Fatal Accidents Act 1976. It was held that the worker who was maintaining and oiling the track when he was killed, did not fall within the literal meaning of "relaying or repairing" in the Act as he was oiling and maintaining which led to an absurd and unjust outcome.