Whiteley v. Chappell
Rule established
Literal Rule applied strictly. Impersonating a dead person to vote was not "personating any person entitled to vote" because a dead person is not "entitled to vote.
Facts
- Whiteley used the name of a deceased voter to cast a vote
- Statute: offence to "personate any person entitled to vote"
- The person impersonated was dead and therefore no longer on the register as entitled
Issue
- Whether impersonating a dead person amounts to personating "any person entitled to vote."
Held
- Literal Rule applied: a dead person cannot be "entitled to vote"
- Defendant acquitted
Ratio Decidendi
The court will not extend the plain meaning of statutory words even to catch obvious mischief, if the literal words do not cover the situation.
How to use it in an exam
- Classic Literal Rule case producing an absurd result
- Paired with Fisher v. Bell as examples of Literal Rule failures
- Contrast with Smith v. Hughes (Mischief Rule would have convicted)
- Key line: "In Whiteley v. Chappell (1868), the court applied the Literal Rule and acquitted because a dead person is not a 'person entitled to vote,' despite the obvious fraud."
Source
Source: (1868) LR 4 QB 147
This is an educational summary, not the judgment itself. Cite the reported version in professional or academic work.