golden rule model answer

• The golden rule is an extension of the literal rule. It was set out by Lord Reid in Jones v DPP: If the words in an act are "capable of more than one meaning, then you choose between those meanings." This means it requires judges to use the literal rule unless it would produce an absurdity and if words in an act are ambiguous then a judge can choose the most appropriate meaning to avoid an absurd outcome.
• There are two approaches under the Golden rule; The narrow and broad approach.
• Under the narrow approach of the golden rule, if a word has two possible meanings then the judge may choose the meaning that would avoid an absurd outcome. In R v Allen the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 made it an offence "to marry" if you were already married.
• However, 'marry' could have two meanings - "to become legally married", or "to go through a marriage ceremony". It would be absurd to apply the first meaning, since you can only be lawfully married once (no marriage after that would be legally valid), therefore no one could ever be convicted of bigamy. Because of this, the "marriage ceremony" definition was used instead, to ensure D could be found guilty.
• This was also seen in the case of Adler v George where the defendant broke into an RAF base. Legally no unauthorized people are allowed 'in the vicinity' which means the surrounding area. Since he was actually inside, he technically wasn't breaching this rule, therefore judges then used the alternate meaning of 'in and near to'.
• The broad application of the golden rule is used where there is only one meaning of the words, but their literal interpretation would lead to an absurd or repugnant outcome and for policy reasons this would be unacceptable. In Re Sigsworth, the words of the Administration of Estates Act 1925 were clear, he was the "next of kin" so he should inherit.
• Therefore, if the literal rule had been applied, Sigsworth would have inherited from the mother he murdered. This would be repugnant, so the judge added the words "but not where the issue has killed the deceased" meaning that he could not inherit her money, since he had killed her.