Rights statement: This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Statute Law Review following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version Thomas E Webb, Robert Geyer, The Drafters’ Dance: The Complexity of Drafting Legislation and the Limitations of ‘Plain Language’ and ‘Good Law’ Initiatives, Statute Law Review,41(2) , hmz008, https://doi.org/10.1093/slr/hmz008 is available online at: https://academic.oup.com/slr/article-abstract/41/2/129/5522410
Accepted author manuscript, 737 KB, PDF document
Available under license: CC BY-NC: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - The Drafters' Dance
T2 - The complexity of drafting legislation and the limitations of 'Plain Language' and 'Good Law' initiatives
AU - Webb, Thomas Edward
AU - Geyer, Robert Ralph
N1 - This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Statute Law Review following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version Thomas E Webb, Robert Geyer, The Drafters’ Dance: The Complexity of Drafting Legislation and the Limitations of ‘Plain Language’ and ‘Good Law’ Initiatives, Statute Law Review, 41(2) , hmz008, https://doi.org/10.1093/slr/hmz008 is available online at: https://academic.oup.com/slr/article-abstract/41/2/129/5522410
PY - 2020/6/1
Y1 - 2020/6/1
N2 - Can we provide legislative drafters with tools to simplify and clarify legislation, and make it more accessible? In the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and EU, through strategies such as the ‘Plain Language’ and ‘Good Law’ (PL/GL) initiatives, it is claimed that the answer is ‘yes’. Though many of the normative intentions underlying such initiatives are commendable, we argue that the pursuit of legislative and legal simplicity, clarity, and accessibility ignores the distinctly ‘complicated’ and ‘complex’ role of legislation and legislative drafters. This leads to a range of contradictory and paradoxical outcomes that undermine these goals. Following a review of the role of legislative drafters and PL/GL initiatives, we use a complexity tool, the Stacey Diagram, to demonstrate and visualise the inherent tensions in the PL/GL position. We show how legislative drafters negotiate their complex environment in a much more subtle, human way than is commonly recognised in PL/GL discourse.
AB - Can we provide legislative drafters with tools to simplify and clarify legislation, and make it more accessible? In the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and EU, through strategies such as the ‘Plain Language’ and ‘Good Law’ (PL/GL) initiatives, it is claimed that the answer is ‘yes’. Though many of the normative intentions underlying such initiatives are commendable, we argue that the pursuit of legislative and legal simplicity, clarity, and accessibility ignores the distinctly ‘complicated’ and ‘complex’ role of legislation and legislative drafters. This leads to a range of contradictory and paradoxical outcomes that undermine these goals. Following a review of the role of legislative drafters and PL/GL initiatives, we use a complexity tool, the Stacey Diagram, to demonstrate and visualise the inherent tensions in the PL/GL position. We show how legislative drafters negotiate their complex environment in a much more subtle, human way than is commonly recognised in PL/GL discourse.
KW - Complexity theory
KW - Legislation
KW - Legislation and Policy
KW - Law
KW - Legal Theory
KW - Systems theory
KW - Parliament
KW - Plain language
KW - Good Law
U2 - 10.1093/slr/hmz008
DO - 10.1093/slr/hmz008
M3 - Journal article
VL - 41
SP - 129
EP - 158
JO - Statute Law Review
JF - Statute Law Review
SN - 0144-3593
IS - 2
ER -