How Laws Are Written and Applied

The complexity of laws is always a controversial issue. Many argue that laws are unduly complex while others assert that the complexity is unavoidable and that so-called legal language has to remain because of hallowed linguistic tradition. As with most things, the answer lies somewhere in between. Laws cannot be made to be simpler than their subject matter. The best that a legislative drafter can do is to make a law as simple as possible. There are many books respectively on the drafting of laws and the interpretation of statutes. However, these books are bulky and meant only for lawyers or law students. This book is written by a person who, after decades of drafting laws and giving legal advice, found that officials who made legislative proposals and reviewed drafts prepared by him would greatly benefit from a book that gives, in one reasonably-sized volume, the most essential written-language skills and the most frequently encountered rules of statutory interpretation. Without these skills, it is difficult for such officials to meaningfully review drafts. Before going into these areas, he examines the pros and cons of the plain English movement and then applies a plain language approach to his content on how laws are written and should be written. In addition, there are many professionals in fields other than legislative drafting who are engaged to drafts laws. And yet knowledge of the subject matter of a proposed law does not make one fully competent to draft it. In order for such professionals to prepare respectable drafts, they need general legislative drafting skills. This volume contains the basic skills necessary for any professional in a substantive subject matter to be better able to write legislation in that area. It will also help any member of the public who has to pay for legal advice on certain simple matters which he could figure out for himself if only he knew some simple rules applied in the