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Guideline 4
Basic-units and sentences should be simple. Long basic-units, complicated sentences, and convoluted wording should be avoided.
| 4.1. | The normative contents of the Act should be expressed in the Act’s basic-units, usually called sections or articles. Each basic-unit should contain a single provision expressing only one idea. A single basic-unit may, however, both enunciate and elaborate on a single idea. | |
| 4.2. | Long basic-units must be split into easily assimilated subdivisions, following a logical progression, since an excessively compact block of text is hard for the eye to follow and the mind to absorb. This must not, however, result in sentences being either artificially or unduly broken up. | |
| 4.2.1. | It is not necessary for interpretation, nor desirable in the interests of clarity, for a single basic-unit to cover all aspects of an idea. It will often be preferable to deal with those aspects in several basic-units grouped together rather than in a single basic-unit. | |
| 4.2.2. | Particularly in the initial stages of the adoption process, basic-units should not be too complex in structure. Drafts and proposals for Acts (e.g. Bills) will be subject to deliberations and negotiations throughout the adoption process which, in most cases, will result in further additions and refinements. Subsequent amendments of the Act (often numerous) will also be difficult to insert if the basic-units are already over-complex. | |
| 4.3. | It is sometimes easier to draft complicated sentences rather than make the effort of synthesis necessary to achieve clear wording. However, this effort is essential in order to achieve a legislative text that can be easily understood, translated, and implemented. | |
