“Legislation has no spirit.”

“To be literal is to see the skin and miss the

soul.”

“Courts must rewrite defective laws.”

“Every law must be strictly literal.”

Literal Rule

Mischief Rule

Golden Rule

Purpose Rule

To make new law

To interpret without rules

To follow Parliament debates

To stand by decisions and maintain settled law

Without reference to purpose

With imagination of purpose behind them

Only by dictionary meanings

As theorems of Euclid

Clear and plain wording

Definitions provided in the Act

Correct section references

Ambiguity caused by words like “or” and “and”

The words exactly express what was meant

Courts can modify the text freely

Legislators never make mistakes

Context is more important than words

Lawyers argue their cases

Citizens follow the law

Courts ascertain the legislature’s meaning

through authoritative forms

Courts create new laws

Judges want to

Citizens disagree

Language is ambiguous

Parliament directs them

Temporary or perpetual statutes

Declaratory or codifying statutes

Penal or remedial statutes

General or local statutes

Words and context

Procedure and substance

Meaning and purpose 

Parliament and Courts