The Literal Rule

The common law approach to interpretation is reflected in textualism

The literal rule was the cornerstone of the common law approach to statutory interpretation, giving effect quite literally to the words of the text.

See Amalgamated Society of Engineers v Adelaide Steamship Co Ltd (1920) 28 CLR 129

The literal rule gives some guidance to present day courts looking for the meaning of words in their ordinary and natural sense. See Deputy Commissioner of Taxation v Clark [2003] NSWCA 91, as per Spigelman CJ at [115] ‘[t]he contemporary approach to statutory interpretation is literal and requires words to be construed in their total context’.

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