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CSEET · Business Laws and Management · Introduction to Law

Under the literal rule of interpretation of statutes, a court should:

Under the literal rule, the court gives the words of a statute their natural, ordinary and grammatical meaning where the language is clear, even if the result appears harsh. Looking at the mischief being remedied is the mischief rule, which is a different approach.

  1. ALook first at the mischief the Act wanted to remedy and then choose a meaning that suppresses it
  2. BGive the words of the statute their natural and ordinary meaning, even if the result seems harshCorrect
  3. CRead the statute so that it matches the court's own idea of fairness
  4. DIgnore the words used and follow only the speeches made in the legislature

Explanation

The literal rule requires that words be given their plain, ordinary and grammatical meaning when they are clear and unambiguous. The first option describes the mischief rule (Heydon's case), so it is wrong. Courts do not replace the text with their own sense of fairness under this rule.

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