The Complex Web Of National Laws: Navigating The Maze

The laws of a nation are complex, and they become even more so when they are too numerous. This complexity can hinder economic activity, obstruct good governance, and undermine the rule of law. Excessive complexity can also create burdens for individuals, businesses, and communities. In recent years, legislation has become more accessible to the public through websites, but once found, people may be baffled by its intricacy and intimidation. Even legally qualified users often find legislation excessively complex and tend to read the explanatory notes instead of the legislative text. While some complexity is inevitable given the complicated nature of modern life, it is important to strike a balance and ensure that laws remain accessible and understandable to those they govern.

The law is regarded as intricate and intimidating by its users

The law's complexity is not inevitable nor acceptable. It hinders economic activity and obstructs good governance. A review of the causes of complexity in legislation suggests there is no single cause, but many. There is no compelling incentive to create simplicity or to avoid making an intricate web of laws even more complex.

Establishing a sense of shared accountability and professional pride in the statute book may help to create confidence among users that legislation is for them. The "Good Law" initiative, launched by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, aims to create necessary, effective, clear, coherent, and accessible laws.

The preparation of primary legislation can be described in three phases: policy development, the drafting of a bill, and the introduction of the bill to parliament. During each phase, there may be problems and inefficiencies that can generate unnecessary complexity, limit the effectiveness of the law, or make its use and interpretation difficult.

One of the key reasons for the increased volume of legislation is that interest groups and individuals have increasingly demanding expectations of each other and expect the legislature to arbitrate. Historically, legislation has been a straightforward tool to influence political debate, but it is now perceived as a sign of action and a powerful communication tool.

Users of legislation have steadily increased over the past 20 years. Today's users are a far wider group of people thanks to the web. Evidence suggests that these new users could include human resources staff, policy advisors, landlords, and volunteers. A study found that the comprehension level of legislative texts by legally qualified and non-legally qualified users was generally quite low. Most users expect legislation to be hard to read and find it challenging to navigate.

The volume of legislation has increased

The average number of government bills introduced in a typical parliamentary session ranges from 35 to 50, and while the number of Acts promulgated in recent years remains consistent with previous decades, the average length of these bills has significantly increased. This lengthening of bills can be attributed to the inclusion of more detail and explanation to effectively achieve policy objectives.

The rise in legislation is also evident in the increase in criminal justice bills and the creation of new criminal offences. Between 1983 and 2009, over 100 criminal justice bills were approved, resulting in over 4,000 new criminal offences. This trend has led to the establishment of procedures to limit the creation of new criminal offences.

The impact of EU obligations on the volume of legislation varies across member states, with estimates ranging from 6% to 80% for new members. In the UK, 10% of Acts incorporated one or more EU obligations between 1980 and 2010. The influence of EU law is not limited to member states, as non-member countries like Iceland have also been affected by EU legislation.

While the number of Acts may have slightly declined over the past 40 years, the total number of pages of legislation passed each year, along with the average number of pages per Act, continues to demonstrate an increased volume of legislation. However, modern drafting styles and publishing formats, which include more white space, also contribute to the higher page count.

In conclusion, the volume of legislation has indeed increased, and this trend is influenced by various social, economic, and political factors. The length and complexity of legislation have significant implications for its users, including citizens, businesses, and the judiciary, underscoring the need for shared accountability and a collaborative approach to law-making.

The law obstructs good government

The volume of legislation, its piecemeal structure, frequent amendments, and interaction with common and European law contribute to the complexity. The law's intricacy can also be attributed to the variety of audiences with conflicting requirements, including government, parliament, the judiciary, citizens, and businesses. Each audience has distinct expectations and requirements, making it challenging to create legislation that satisfies all stakeholders.

To address this issue, it is essential to establish shared accountability and promote professional pride in the quality of statutes. Simplifying the law can be achieved by adopting a plain English style, improving parliamentary and public scrutiny, and removing unnecessary burdens on citizens and businesses. Additionally, enhancing the accessibility and usability of legislation through computational legal studies and user-friendly platforms can make it more understandable and relevant to users.

Furthermore, the preparation of primary legislation, which involves policy development, drafting, parliamentary scrutiny, and implementation, offers opportunities to mitigate complexity. By improving the understanding of the legislative process among policy teams and promoting collaboration between drafters and departmental lawyers, the effectiveness of policy can be enhanced.

In conclusion, the complexity of the law can obstruct good government by hindering economic activity and creating burdens for various stakeholders. Simplifying the law and improving its accessibility are crucial to ensuring effective governance and promoting confidence among citizens.

The law is a hindrance to economic activity

The volume of legislation, its piecemeal structure, frequent amendments, and interaction with common and European law contribute to the complexity. The law's intricacy is further exacerbated by its accessibility to a broad range of people through websites like legislation.gov.uk. This accessibility, while promoting transparency, also reveals the complicated nature of the legal system to a wider audience.

The consequences of this complexity are significant. Firstly, it hinders economic activity and good governance, as individuals and businesses struggle to navigate the intricate legal landscape. Additionally, it undermines the rule of law, as citizens find it challenging to understand and abide by the laws that govern them. This complexity can lead to a lack of trust in the legal system and may even encourage non-compliance or selective enforcement.

Furthermore, the process of law-making itself can contribute to unnecessary complexity. The review conducted by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel identified that there is no single cause of complexity but instead, numerous factors that interact and create intricate webs of laws. One striking theme is the lack of incentive to create simplicity or avoid making laws even more complex. This reflects a disconnect between the drafters of legislation and the users, who often find the laws convoluted and challenging to navigate.

To address this issue, there is a need for shared accountability and a sense of collective pride in the statute book. By involving various stakeholders, including government departments, drafters, the policy profession, parliamentarians, the judiciary, and crucially, the users of legislation, it is possible to create laws that are necessary, effective, clear, coherent, and accessible. Simplifying laws and making them easier to understand and comply with can reduce the burden on individuals and businesses, fostering economic activity and a more prosperous society.

Moreover, the negative perception of legislation as complex and burdensome discourages public understanding of government aims and priorities. This can have a detrimental effect on businesses and hinder economic growth. Computational legal studies offer a potential solution by applying mathematical models and scientific research approaches to analyse and organise legislation, making it more user-friendly and efficient.

The law is hard to understand and comply with

The law is regarded by its users as intricate and intimidating. Even professional users can find the law complex, hard to understand, and difficult to comply with. The volume of legislation, its piecemeal structure, its level of detail and frequent amendments, and the interaction with common law and European law, all contribute to this.

The law is especially challenging for citizens or businesses, who may not be familiar with the architecture of the statute book, or know how to find and access legislation and guidance about legislative changes. They may not know what sections or schedules are, or understand what happens to legislation after it has been enacted.

Even legally qualified users frequently complain about the excessive complexity of legislation and often tend to read the explanatory notes accompanying a bill, rather than the legislative text.

The architecture of the statute book further discourages users because changes to existing legislation (generating very complicated sets of interrelationships or 'legal effects') are not explicit, and new and existing legislation can appear inconsistent. Regulation emanating from different sources sometimes overlaps and commencement can be difficult to follow.

Every year, new legislation and amendments result in over 15,000 legislative effects. The statute book is an ever-evolving network of complex information that expands organically and is extremely difficult to map.

Users also appear to find it difficult to find reliable explanatory information and relevant guidance. This can be a particular problem for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which often do not have the expertise or resources to keep track of legislation.

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