Girolamo Tessuto » 4.Peculiarities of statutes

Peculiarities of statutes: a glance at the language

The pressures for clarity have begun to influence the drafting of current legislation in many (Common Law) English-speaking countries (such as UK, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, US)

A look at UK statutes drafted over the last decade shows that they are drafted in plainer language than before when, for example, long, unpunctuated sentences without visual layout and format (paragraphing) were used.

A glance at the main linguistic aspects characterising English-recently drafted statutes, in particular those from the UK jurisdiction.

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• Ordinary words versus technical words: the drafting of current statutes (such as in the UK) tends to be characterised mainly by ordinary English words and expressions.

The result is that technical words (legal jargon), understood only by experts, are avoided where possible, or explained via ordinary language, or in definition sections (in this case when the nature and purpose of the text so requires). Similarly, Latin terms are avoided where possible.

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• Vague words and expressions: these have no specific boundaries in statutes but give a choice to the interpreter of the provision as to their degree of meaning.

Examples:

appropriate measures
reasonable conduct

so far as applicable
substantial damages

sufficient cause
thinks fit