Advantages and disadvantages of the Literal Rule

Evaluation

An advantage of the literal rule is that it forces judges to carry out Parliaments intention. This is important as it stops unelected/appointed judges from making law, which would be contrary to the doctrine of the separation of powers. After all, their function is to apply, not make. It can also provide certainty in law, when it can be otherwise ambiguous. This allows lawyers to predict the outcome for their client as law is interpreted as its written.However, It does assume that an Act has been drafted perfectly and that Parliament have accounted for all possibilities. However, it is obvious that this is impossible. An example of this is in the case of Whiteley v Chappell, Parliament couldn't possibly have predicted that someone would impersonate a dead person, so why would it be set out. Also, as Professor Holmes said, "words are not crystals", they can often be ambiguous and have multiple meanings, like in the case of the Dangerous Dog Act, the word type could have a wider meaning than breed. Also, it can lead to harsh or absurd decisions like in Berriman where the widow received no compensation for er husbands death. Finally, Professor Zander criticised the model as being "too mechanical".