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CMA Intermediate · Business Laws and Ethics · Introduction to Law and Legal System in India

In the Heydon's case approach, a court interpreting an old enactment asks what the common law was before the Act, what defect or 'mischief' the common law did not remedy, and what remedy Parliament provided. Which rule of interpretation is this?

This is the mischief rule, also called the rule in Heydon's case. The court identifies the law before the Act, the defect the old law left unremedied, and the remedy Parliament intended, and then interprets the provision in a way that suppresses the mischief and advances that remedy.

  1. AEjusdem generis
  2. BMischief ruleCorrect
  3. CNoscitur a sociis
  4. DLiteral rule

Explanation

The mischief rule, from Heydon's case, directs the court to construe the statute so as to suppress the mischief and advance the remedy. Ejusdem generis and noscitur a sociis deal with the meaning of general words and associated words, while the literal rule looks only at plain meaning.

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