the golden rule

• what is the golden rule?

  It is an extension of the literal rule. It begins with looking at the literal meaning of the words, but then the judge can avoid the meaning if the result would be absurd
• What are the two views on how the golden rule can be used?

  The narrow View

  The broad view
• In terms of the golden rule, what is meant by the narrow view?

  if the words have more than one meaning, then the judge can choose the meaning which is sensible- however, if there is only one meaning then the judge can only use that meaning
• What is the significance of the cases of Adler v George, and R v Allen in terms of the golden rule's narrow view?

  Both R v Allen and Adler v George illustrate the narrow view of the golden rule
• what happened in the case of r v Allen?

  It was stated in section 57 of the offences against the person act 1861 that it was a criminal offence to " marry " someone if the original spouse was alive. The verb "marry" can have two meanings, the first is that the first is legally married and the second was via a ceremony- the courts used the second meaning to avoid absurdity.
• what is the broad view in terms of the golden rule?

  this is where words have one clear meaning however using said meaning would lead to an absurd result. So, the judge would modify the meaning to avoid the problem.
• What is the significance of the case of Re Sigsworth?

  It is an example of the broad view in the golden rule being illustrated