Mischief rule

The mischief rule is one of three rules of statutory interpretation traditionally applied by English courts. The other two are the “plain meaning rule” (also known as the “literal rule”) and the “golden rule.”

The main aim of the rule is to determine the "mischief and defect" that the statute in question has set out to remedy, and what ruling would effectively implement this remedy. In applying the Mischief Rule the court is essentially asking what part of the law did the law not cover, but was meant to be rectified by the parliament in passing the bill.