When the law is mis-written and the defendant gets off with the loophole or other reason for the mis-written law, then it is up the the parliamentray system to correct the law so that it cannot be mis-interpretted again.
Mis-interpreted? So interpretation of words does play a role! Interpreting according to the "spirit of the law" (literally, there is no such thing), involves judges making decisions according to contextual and current interpretation, according to their interpretation of what the legislatives intended with the law. It is actually unavoidable in any meaning-based language (e.g., excluding computer "languages") not to engage in interpretation. Consider for example the synoptic gospel quote from Matthew: "Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." I have heard that some Biblical "letter of the law" types start talking about turning a camel into extremely fine mincemeat and passing it a needle to justify the heavenly salvation of the rich. Others talk about making a giant needle whose eye is sufficiently large to pass a camel through. Both are examples of following "the letter of the law" rather than "the spirit". Hope this helps, -- Lev Lafayette, mobile: 61 432 255 208 http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1855.txt