Demystifying Ambiguity in Legislative Writing

• Autores: Ann Nowak
• Localización: Statute law review, ISSN 0144-3593, Vol. 37, N. 2, 2016, págs. 164-171
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Ambiguity in legislative writing causes confusion and misunderstanding. Sometimes, the ambiguity comes from conflicts between the drafter’s intended relationship of words and the reader’s perceived relationship of those words. At other times, ambiguity comes from the drafter’s failure to define important terms clearly. This paper (i) examines reasons for ambiguity in legislative writing as well as some of the problems that can be created by that ambiguity and (ii) offers strategies for avoiding ambiguity while drafting legislation, including the use of mathematical set theory to examine potentially ambiguous sentences.