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A Dainty Dish to Set
before the King: Plain Language and Legislation1
For my contribution
to the conference, I thought I'd reflect a little on some limits of
plain language which it seems to me are not always properly recognised. These
arise out of two factors:
- The
performative character of legislation
- Distortions in the communication model for
legislation
Blackbird
Pie
To put my remarks
into perspective, though, I'd like to begin with the language of literature,
and discuss the passage that begins Raymond Carver's story "Blackbird
Pie":
I was in my
room one night when I heard something in the corridor. I looked up from my work
and saw an envelope slide under the door. It was a thick envelope, but not so
thick it couldn't be pushed under the door. My name was written on the
envelope, and what was inside purported to be a letter from my wife. I say
"purported" because even though the grievances could only have come from
someone who'd spent twenty-three years observing me on an intimate, day-to-day
basis, the charges were outrageous and completely out of keeping with my wife's
character. Most important, however, the handwriting was not my wife's
handwriting. But if it wasn't her handwriting, then whose was
it?
--Raymond
Carver, "Blackbird Pie" (492)
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1
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Adapted from
a paper originally presented at the 9th Annual Conference of the Law and
Literature Association, Beechworth, 5-7 February 1999. My former colleague in
the Australian Capital Territory, James Graham, provided some initial
inspiration. The views expressed are, however, my own, not those of the ACT
Parliamentary Counsel's Office or the Ontario Office of Legislative Counsel
(the drafting offices in which I have worked while this paper has been
gestating). Feel free to quote from the paper, with due
acknowledgement.
Your
comments are welcome. Contact me as follows:
email:
nick.horn@jus.gov.on.ca [after 1
January 2003: nick.horn@act.gov.au]
ph: 416-326-6962 (bh) [until 22 December 2002] |
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