Literal rule of interpretation pdf

Literal rule law and legal definition uslegal, inc. Maxwell on the interpretation of statutes 12th edition pdf. Under this rule the considers what the statute actually says, rather than what it might mean. Activity provide the literal meaning to the case, and. However, its inflexibility can also create injustices.

This makes the law easier to understand for the general public as they will know what the law is and how judges will interpret it. Pdf literal rule of interpretation azeem mian academia. Doc comparative analysis of literal rule and golden rule. It is the rule that is most commonly used, and may sometimes appear to give a result contrary to the intention of parliament. The literal rule declares that the literal or ordinary meaning of the words used must be followed, whatever the result. Formerly, the dominant approach to statutory interpretation was the literal rule, with its gloss known as the golden rule supplemented by the mischief rule. In other words, the normal approach was to give words in a statute their ordinary. Using the literal rule will make the law more certain as the law will be interpreted exactly as it is written every time that it is used. The literal rule says that the intention of parliament is best found in the ordinary and natural meaning of the words. The courts have developed a range of rules of interpretation to assist them. This rule explains what the law is rather than explaining what the law means.

The main aim of the rule is to determine the mischief and defect that the statute in question has set out to remedy, and what ruling would suppress the mischief, and advance the remedy. Justice g p singhs principles of statutory interpretation is the most comprehensive and. The literal rule remains the primary rule of interpretation. In our opinion, rule 27c of the rules is plain and clear. Discuss the rules of statutary interpretation with the.

Golden rule of interpretation law of interpretation of. The rule says that to start with we shall go by the literal rule, however, if the interpretation given through the literal rule leads to some or any kind of ambiguity, injustice, inconvenience, hardship, inequity, then in all such events the literal meaning shall be discarded and interpretation shall be done in such a manner that the purpose of the legislation is fulfilled. A statute is the will of the sovereign legislature according to which the governments function. Lord diplock in the duport steel v sirs case 1980 defined the rule. This rule was defined by higgins j, in the amalgamated society of engineers v the adelaide steamship co ltd 1920. The literal sense is the grammaticalhistorical sense, that is, the meaning which the writer expressed. Under this rule the judge considers what the statute actually says, rather than what it might mean. Literal rule and mischief rule in interpretation by g. It seeks to find the ordinary and natural meaning of the words. In this part we will explore the number of rules developed by the courts to assist with the interpretation of a statute. Gp singh interpretation of the year survey of the interpretation of statutes deliberates and decides on wide three golden rules of interpretation as explained by justice g. A tool for statutory interpretation by ekta gurjar ssrn. The mischief rule is one of three rules of statutory interpretation traditionally applied by english courts. Interpretation according to the literal sense will take account of all figures of speech and literary forms found in the text.

In order to achieve this, the judge will give the words in the act a literal meaning, that is, their plain ordinary everyday meaning, even if the effect of this is to produce what might be considered as an otherwise unjust or undesirable outcome. Abstract in indian constitution, there is a broad separation of power, the indian constitution has not provided the judiciary to be supreme, the judiciary have its own limitation and it is necessary that judiciary should not cross the line that. A tool for statutory interpretation words in their natural and ordinary sense. Further the position of this rule in the present times has been discussed. In other words, the law must be read, word for word, and it should not divert from its true meaning.

The golden rule tries to compliment the literal rule by allowing judges to change the meaning of statutes in order to give justice. In order to achieve this, the judge will give the words in the statute a literal meaning, that is, their plain ordinary everyday meaning, even if the effect of this is to produce what might be considered as an otherwise unjust or undesirable outcome. This article focuses on the rules to be kept in mind while using it. Essentially, we are not to treat scripture like a secret code book. The most basic rule of biblical interpretation that we can follow is that we should interpret the bible literally.

Simhanjana interpretation salmond defines interpretation as a process by which the court seeks the meaning of legislature through the medium of authoritative forms in which it expresses. It is a compromise between the plain meaning or literal rule and the mischief rule. The other two are the mischief rule and the golden rule. It is incumbent on the court to use the grammatical meaning. Introduction statutory interpretation is the process of interpreting and applying legislation to decide. Under the literal rule, the words of the statute are given their natural or ordinary meaning and applied without the judge seeking to put a gloss on the words or seek to make sense of the statute. Rule of literal or ordinary meaning literal rule 3. T 1 literal rule of interpretation is one of the oldest methods of interpretation adopted by the judiciary. The literal rule of statutory interpretation should be the first rule applied by judges.

When the plain sense of the scripture makes common sense, seek no other. It does have regard to the particular context in so doing. Interpreting the bible literally ligonier ministries. The main aim of the rule is to determine the mischief and defect that the statute in question has set out to remedy, and what ruling would effectively implement this. They interpret the words of the statute in a way that is used commonly by all. The plain meaning rule, also known as the literal rule, is one of three rules of statutory construction traditionally applied by english courts. The meaning of an ordinary word of the english language is not a question of law. This lecture is fourth lecture on series interpretation of statutes. Explain literal rule, mischief rule aka rule in haydons case, golden rule, rule of harmonious construction, nosciur a sociis, ejusdem generis, reddendo singul singuis.

No doubt, equity may be in favour of the respondents because they were selected earlier, but as observed earlier, if there is a conflict between equity and the law, it is the law which must prevail. Mischief rule academic dictionaries and encyclopedias. Approaches to interpretation i mcmahon legal guide. The paper is a critique of the golden rule of interpretation along with relevant case laws. Under this rule of interpretation the courts interpret the statutes in a literal and ordinary sense. The proper construction of a statute is a question of law. Literal rule of interpretation is one of the oldest methods of interpretation adopted by the judiciary. Methods of interpretation literal rule the intention of parliament is best achieved by giving the words their ordinary natural meaning wherever such words are capable of a literal meaning. Some european community and english common law perspective ian mcleod follow this and additional works at. Literal and purposive techniques of legislative interpretation. The purpose of interpretation is always to find out what the statute stands for, what is the defect it. Hence, the literal rule of interpretation will apply to it.

It is, thus, evident that no invariable rule can be established for literal interpretation. Literally interpreting the law a appraisal of the literal rule of interpretation in india alekhya reddy. The plain meaning rule dictates that statutes are to be interpreted using the. To have the interpretation of scripture rest on mans wisdom is to have flesh interpreting that which is spiritual. If the court considers that the litera legis is not clear, it, must interpret according to the purpose, policy or spirit of the statute ratiolegis. A form of literal interpretation held sway for at least the first couple of centuries as evidenced by the strong chiliastic or premillennial tendencies that can be found. One of the three basic rules of interpretation, construction is golden rule. The literal rule dictated that the courts gave effect to the ordinary and natural meaning of legislation. The only rule for the construction of acts of parliament is, that they should be construed according to the intent of the parliament which passed the act.

The judges frequently use this phrase true meaning or literal or plain meaning. Statutory interpretation is the process used by courts to interpret and apply legislation, although acts of parliament are written by expert draftsmen, the statute for the case before them may not be. Literal rule akaplain meaning rule it means that statutes are to be interpreted using the ordinary meaning of the language of the statute unless a statute explicitly defines some of its terms otherwise. Primary rules of interpretation12 the literal rule the primary and important rule of interpretation is called the literal rule, laid down in the sussex peerage case. The golden rule of interpretation can be said as the modification of the grammatical rule of interpretation. The word interpretation means to arrive at the original meaning the writer intended when he penned the words. By providing no scope for the judges input, it upholds the separation of powers and respects parliamentary supremacy. Statutory interpretation advantages and disadvantages. Importance of golden rule of interpretation 1 it departs from its strictly literal rules 2 the court adopt the golden rule of interpretation in order to arrive at a perfect interpretation which would bring out the true meaning of the language, in the process of giving effect to the real intention of the legislature. This article is brought to you for free and open access by the law journals at brooklynworks. These rules each take different approaches to interpretation of a statute. It cover types of general principles of interpretation. The literal rule of interpretation of statute legal service india. Literal rule of interpretation is the primary rule.

The statutes should be construed in such a manner as though there is no other meaning except the literal meaning. Brett, peter the theory of interpreting statutes 1953 uqlawjl. Where the meaning of the statutory words is plain and. The golden rule, or british rule, is a form of statutory interpretation that allows a judge to depart from a words normal meaning in order to avoid an absurd result. The rule of literal construction ignores the limitations of language. In the literal rule of interpretation, the law has to be considered as it is and the. When the literal rule is applied the words in a statute are given their ordinary and. The literal rule, the golden rule and therefore the mischief rule. The golden rule under the golden rule for statutory interpretation, where the literal rule gives an absurd result, which parliament could not have intended, the judge can substitute a reasonable meaning in the light of the statute as a whole. If the plain meaning of the word is ambiguous, vague or misleading or if a strict literal interpretation would result in absurd results. Interpretation is the method by which the true sense or the meaning of the word is understood. State the circumstances when these rules are applied by the courts. It covers literal ruleplaingrammar rule of interpretation.

It is an elementary principle of construction of statutes that the words have to be read in their literal sense. When the plain sense of the scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense. The executive must act and the judiciary in the course of administration of justice must apply the law as laid down by the said legislative. Literal rule is a rule used to interpreting statutes. When interpreting a statute, the courts generally applies the literal rule first before applying any other rules of interpretation. Some judges prefer one rule, while other judges prefer another. The other two are the plain meaning rule also known as the literal rule and the golden rule. Justice higgins said the fundamental rule of interpretation, to which all others are subordinate, is. Using case law illustrations, explain how the literal rule of statutory interpretation operates and how the golden rule modifies the literal rule. The case of adler v george 1964 is a classic example of the courts applying the golden rule. The mischief rule 1 is one of three rules of statutory construction traditionally applied by english courts. In order to achieve this, the judge will give the words in the statute of literal meaning, their plan ordinary everyday meaning, even if the effect of this to produce what might be considered as an otherwise unjust or undesirable outcome.