Plain Language Drafting: A Study of the Laws of India (2009–17)

Abstract

Abstract The relation between the threat to rule of law in India and its poorly drafted legislation may not be obvious at first. And yet clear, intelligible laws have been the premise for the success of rule of law. There is little research done in the field of plain language legislative drafting in India. This article analyses three important elements of plain language drafting in nine Indian statutes passed in the last decade. They are as follows: arrangement of provisions, marginal notes, and sentence structure. Each of the selected nine statutes impacts the rights of vulnerable groups. Thus, the need to make these statutes comprehensible by drafting them in plain English is important. By suggesting ways to simplify the language of the nine statutes, this article asserts that these plain language drafting techniques must be adopted by Indian legislative drafters.