IS THE GOLDEN RULE OF INTERPRETATION REALLY SO GOLDEN?
IS THE GOLDEN RULE OF INTERPRETATION REALLY SO GOLDEN? The Golden Rule of Interpretation is a modification of the Literal or Grammatical Rule of Interpretation. It allows departure from the Strict Literal Rule by recourse to consequences which may result from the application of the natural and ordinary meaning. The Golden Rule of Interpretation allows the Judges to depart from a normal meaning in order to avoid absurdity. Ever since Lord Wensleydale propounded this rule in 1857 in the case Grey v. Pearson [1] , this rule has always been known as the Golden Rule due to its various advantages and problem-solving nature. Following are the various advantages which are provided by the Golden Rule of Interpretation: 1) An apparent advantage of Golden Rule is that it allows the Judge to modify the meaning of words used in a statute, to remove the absurdity which has occurred when the original meaning of the words has been used and apply the modified term effectively in the cas