Legislative Drafting and Language in Canada

Abstract

Good government requires that laws be expressed clearly. Normative texts serve to integrate within the law a government's policies on social and economic conditions and the rights and obligations of individuals and larger entities. The language of these texts should therefore be precise and easy to understand. But the need for laws to be well written goes well beyond the technical requirements of the legal sphere. For, laws and the language used to express them are directly connected to the everyday practices and general concepts that form the basis of society and civilization. The relationship between laws, language, and society is close and complex. However, few are aware of the high degree to which legislation shapes language, with the result that the impact of legislation on everyday communication tends to be seriously underestimated. Yet, the words, expressions, and underlying concepts used in many areas of human activity are in fact taken directly from or heavily influenced by the very language of the laws that govern these fields. The state therefore has a fundamental obligation to ensure that its legislation is carefully composed, clearly expressed, and of consistently high quality in its language as a whole.