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Definitions in Legislation; EBC Opinion Article
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Topic Started: Jun 6 2017, 07:18 PM (194 Views)
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JayDee
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Jun 6 2017, 07:18 PM
Post #1
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Never Right, Sometimes Honorable
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Definitions in Legislation A Discussion on Definitions, or lack thereof Written by JayDee
- Debt
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1. A sin or trespass (forgive us our debts) 2. Something owed 3. A state of being under obligation to pay or repay someone or something in return for something received 4. The action necessary by common-law for the recovery of money held to be due
Perhaps not the best example, but it gets the point across. English is a confusing language with a bunch of silly words with multiple interpretations. These could be seen as absolutely harmless, but understanding the meaning of every word is sometimes essential to understanding the structure of the sentence as a whole. This is especially important in a legal court, where precise interpretation of the law is essential in every judgement, and failure to recognize the interpretation of law could cost your career. That is why many countries include a ‘definitions’ clause in their legislation to ensure proper interpretation of the law is carried in legal judgment.
However, some countries choose to exclude the use of definitions in their legal documents. In some cases, countries such as the UK and Australia leave out definitions because they have one large ‘Interpretations Act’ with all legal definitions contained within the one legal piece. Other countries simply choose to remove definitions entirely, deeming them to be unnecessary.
Why some countries have Definitions
The Law Reform Commission from Ireland explains the use of definitions by saying, “definitions are best used to stipulate meaning in an area of marginal uncertainty.” That is, we use definitions in law for the purpose of clarifying the interpretation of legislation where it may be necessary. We use definitions for the purpose of clear interpretation of the intent of the law when it is not readily available based on the current language. Since, especially in the US and UK Court system upon which our Court system is based, the intent of legislation upon its creation is so important, proposals, at least in the US, almost always include definitions preceding the body of the proposal.
When I asked a friend of mine, he has this to say, “Something to keep in mind is that any good law should be written with the assumption the person writing it will die the instant they finish. The idea is that while you're still here and currently in a political position to explain and interpret your law, you might not always be, and any ambiguity can cause some pretty big problems down the road.” The main argument he presented is stated clearly in his first sentence, the idea that you won’t always be around to explain the main idea behind any proposal is something each law writer should look out for. He then goes on to explain his initial statement and why it is so important. Like the Law Reform Commission from Ireland, he justifies the use of definitions as a necessity of clear intent behind the proposal when the interpretation of such legislation becomes necessary. It is especially necessary when the exact same proposal is being interpreted far in the future when you are no longer around to explain its intent.
Why we don’t use definitions
In the real world, countries that don’t use definitions in their legislation usually have a weaker Judicial Branch compared to the Executive and/or Legislative Branch. These would be countries such as France, whose Court system is noticeably weaker than their British neighbors. Unlike UK Courts, the French Court is utilized solely for the assurance of Constitutionality in legislation prior to passage. As such, definitions is not a necessary utility as it is not the power of the Court to pass judgment based on current legislation passed.
That begs the question, why doesn’t Europeia use definitions in its legislation? While some laws in Europeia do include definitions, former Chief Justice Malashaan explained the practice of avoiding legislation as a way of preventing greater confusion by defining an ambiguous word poorly or defining the word incorrectly. “Instead, we typically try and write our laws so they are clear without needing definitions,” he would go on to say in the next paragraph. Their explanation would make it apparent that, given the nature of Europeia’s citizens, most legislators preferred to write clear legislation without the need for definitions.
While definitions in legislation may be confusing, they are most certainly not useless. There are some instances in Europeian legislation where multiple definitions of a single word could lead to potential confusion. Take this example from the Elections Act (2015), “Electoral Panel composed of the Speaker of the Senate, the President of the Republic, and the Office of the Supreme Chancellor, each exercising one vote.” Of course, most of us know what it means, but some may misinterpret “the Office of the Supreme Chancellor” to mean that both Mousebumples and Lethen exercise a single vote within the Electoral Panel. While definition may help some who read through our laws, the attempt at a definition, in this case, would also fulfill the concern stated in the previous paragraph. Where it is clear to most people what the meaning of the clause is, the use of definition would likely cause greater confusion for those attempting to read through and/or interpret our laws.
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The Hon. JayDee Bonaparté, ESS
Special Bars Curriculum Vitae Current Positions (OnderKelkia)Former Positions Minister of Communications (51st & 52nd President) Senator (59th & 61st Senate) Deputy Minister (Communications)(Foreign Affairs) Positions held beyond Europeia Merciam Founder Associate Justice Chief Justice Secretary of Domestic Affairs Senator
Albion Grand Councilman Kingdom of Great Britain His Lordship, Baron Jay Dee Bonaparte 'de Falaise Lord of Parliament x2 Lord Commissioner of the Justiciary x1 Member of Parliament Deputy Prime Minister
|    | My 1776th post
Ra Ra Rasputin Things people say Jaydee Senpai notice me-AexThat's it, no Llama for him. Everyone else still gets one.-VertegerJayDee, we need you to be the entire Government. By yourself.-DarcnessIm a coconut, brown on the outside but a little classically educated white boi on the inside-HyangyoJaydee's actually hot-MangoJayDee does need to turn 18 already, this is true-IsarisJayDee you tricky bastard-LethenWho needs an Ovation when you can have a gold star from JayDee?-ConstieD mak CA gret agin!!11!!-DrexloreHailing Satan is good. Hailing Satan is great. Hail Satan everyday for good luck-Kylia QuilorAs long as I can keep indulging my hobby to liberally swear at 7 year olds Im fine. The tears of young children is what keeps me looking so young myself.-DrecqJay is cool beans. -Pyntuma Real life quotes I've given up on being normal. I've found the only people that are normal are those too afraid to be themselves.-A wise man Look to the stars but keep your feet on the ground.-Teddy Roosevelt All religions must be tolerated for every man must get to heaven his own way.-King Frederick the Great of Prussia Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire, called conscience.-George Washington The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.-James D. Nicoll A gift from Malashaan Family Son of Owen Bonaparte
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Skizzy Grey
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Jun 6 2017, 09:00 PM
Post #2
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insert random title here
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The benefit of a defined term is that you can incorporate a lot of detail into that term, then reference all that detail each time you use that term without having to repeat it all. I use defined terms all the time in my RL work. In NS, however, statutes where defined terms would be useful are the exception to the rule. There are a few defined terms in the Judicature Act, so it's not like we don't know how to use defined terms; we just don't need them that often.
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JayDee
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Jun 6 2017, 09:10 PM
Post #3
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Never Right, Sometimes Honorable
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It works IRL because there's a lot more "stuff" in the real world and you don't want to waste your time explaining a word every time it comes up. Much easier to just define it once so people can go back if they want. Europeia, our law index is noticeably smaller and less complex, so spelling the entire thing out is considered easier by many because you're typically defining a word you're only going to use once.
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The Hon. JayDee Bonaparté, ESS
Special Bars Curriculum Vitae Current Positions (OnderKelkia)Former Positions Minister of Communications (51st & 52nd President) Senator (59th & 61st Senate) Deputy Minister (Communications)(Foreign Affairs) Positions held beyond Europeia Merciam Founder Associate Justice Chief Justice Secretary of Domestic Affairs Senator
Albion Grand Councilman Kingdom of Great Britain His Lordship, Baron Jay Dee Bonaparte 'de Falaise Lord of Parliament x2 Lord Commissioner of the Justiciary x1 Member of Parliament Deputy Prime Minister
|    | My 1776th post
Ra Ra Rasputin Things people say Jaydee Senpai notice me-AexThat's it, no Llama for him. Everyone else still gets one.-VertegerJayDee, we need you to be the entire Government. By yourself.-DarcnessIm a coconut, brown on the outside but a little classically educated white boi on the inside-HyangyoJaydee's actually hot-MangoJayDee does need to turn 18 already, this is true-IsarisJayDee you tricky bastard-LethenWho needs an Ovation when you can have a gold star from JayDee?-ConstieD mak CA gret agin!!11!!-DrexloreHailing Satan is good. Hailing Satan is great. Hail Satan everyday for good luck-Kylia QuilorAs long as I can keep indulging my hobby to liberally swear at 7 year olds Im fine. The tears of young children is what keeps me looking so young myself.-DrecqJay is cool beans. -Pyntuma Real life quotes I've given up on being normal. I've found the only people that are normal are those too afraid to be themselves.-A wise man Look to the stars but keep your feet on the ground.-Teddy Roosevelt All religions must be tolerated for every man must get to heaven his own way.-King Frederick the Great of Prussia Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire, called conscience.-George Washington The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.-James D. Nicoll A gift from Malashaan Family Son of Owen Bonaparte
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Kylia Quilor
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Jun 6 2017, 10:04 PM
Post #4
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Queen in My Own Mind
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The Criminal Code has a few definitions, mostly revolving around things relating to Forum Destruction.
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The Rt. Hon. Commodore Kylia Quilor, Dux Emeritus, Legatus, Quartius, Primus Pilus, Praefectus Vigilum Noctu, ERN
 I. Am. Not. A. Nice. Person. Never underestimate the power of cynicism, pessimism and negativity to prevent terrible things from happening. Only idealists try to build the future on a mountain of bodies. Unfocused populism is just as dangerous, if not more so, to a Republic's survival as creeping authoritarianism. Tell people how you feel, honestly and frankly. If you like someone, tell them. If you don't like them, tell them - the world would be a better place if we all knew where we stood.
Professional Credentials Curriculum Vitae Europeia: President x1 Minister of Foreign Affairs x2 Grand Admiral x4 Senator x11 Minister of Communications x1
Current Positions In Other Regions: Queen of Kantrias
Past Positions in Other Regions (Selected): MP (LKE), Minister of the Exterior (LKE), Reichstag Delegate (TNI), Minister (TNI), Reich Elector (TNI), TNI Contingent Commander, (UIAF), Director of Public Relations (Region Inc)
Medals Order of Service to Europeia  , Order of the Bronze Star  , Order of Courage x2 
Testimonials To My Character Named Testimonials [justified]I sometimes suspect that [Kylia] Quilor is here to harvest the tears of young, ambitious nations. - The Bruce O how much we have missed your cynicism [Kylia]. :p - Zaolat I'm so happy you're back but you're also crushing my dreams - Sopo [Kylia] is close to defining the modern Europeian conservative. - Hyanygo You carry an interesting dichotomy about yourself - a mix of fiery passion and cool reservation that both intrigues and concerns me. -Trinnien Kylia is the neighbor at the end of the street that you don't want to mess with during petunia season. -Cat I'd just like to thank KQ for resurrecting this thread, because it was truly what GP needed. </sarcasm>- Cormac Oh man, today I did not wake up thinking "I'll post something defending Kylia" ... but here we are. - Aexnidaral Seymour[/justified] Anonymous Testimonials - “Too much negativity and edginess”
- “We need someone like [her] to keep us from flying too close to the sun”
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JayDee
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Jun 7 2017, 02:23 PM
Post #5
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Never Right, Sometimes Honorable
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- Cerian Quilor
- Jun 6 2017, 10:04 PM
The Criminal Code has a few definitions, mostly revolving around things relating to Forum Destruction. Most of those definitions are placed there so someone in court couldn't claim "I didn't know it was against the law, how could I have known that what I did was treason if it wasn't listed." Better just to define them as you go along so people can't exploit loopholes.
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The Hon. JayDee Bonaparté, ESS
Special Bars Curriculum Vitae Current Positions (OnderKelkia)Former Positions Minister of Communications (51st & 52nd President) Senator (59th & 61st Senate) Deputy Minister (Communications)(Foreign Affairs) Positions held beyond Europeia Merciam Founder Associate Justice Chief Justice Secretary of Domestic Affairs Senator
Albion Grand Councilman Kingdom of Great Britain His Lordship, Baron Jay Dee Bonaparte 'de Falaise Lord of Parliament x2 Lord Commissioner of the Justiciary x1 Member of Parliament Deputy Prime Minister
|    | My 1776th post
Ra Ra Rasputin Things people say Jaydee Senpai notice me-AexThat's it, no Llama for him. Everyone else still gets one.-VertegerJayDee, we need you to be the entire Government. By yourself.-DarcnessIm a coconut, brown on the outside but a little classically educated white boi on the inside-HyangyoJaydee's actually hot-MangoJayDee does need to turn 18 already, this is true-IsarisJayDee you tricky bastard-LethenWho needs an Ovation when you can have a gold star from JayDee?-ConstieD mak CA gret agin!!11!!-DrexloreHailing Satan is good. Hailing Satan is great. Hail Satan everyday for good luck-Kylia QuilorAs long as I can keep indulging my hobby to liberally swear at 7 year olds Im fine. The tears of young children is what keeps me looking so young myself.-DrecqJay is cool beans. -Pyntuma Real life quotes I've given up on being normal. I've found the only people that are normal are those too afraid to be themselves.-A wise man Look to the stars but keep your feet on the ground.-Teddy Roosevelt All religions must be tolerated for every man must get to heaven his own way.-King Frederick the Great of Prussia Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire, called conscience.-George Washington The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.-James D. Nicoll A gift from Malashaan Family Son of Owen Bonaparte
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Kylia Quilor
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Jun 7 2017, 10:26 PM
Post #6
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Queen in My Own Mind
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True, but what does that have to do with the price of tea in china?
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The Rt. Hon. Commodore Kylia Quilor, Dux Emeritus, Legatus, Quartius, Primus Pilus, Praefectus Vigilum Noctu, ERN
 I. Am. Not. A. Nice. Person. Never underestimate the power of cynicism, pessimism and negativity to prevent terrible things from happening. Only idealists try to build the future on a mountain of bodies. Unfocused populism is just as dangerous, if not more so, to a Republic's survival as creeping authoritarianism. Tell people how you feel, honestly and frankly. If you like someone, tell them. If you don't like them, tell them - the world would be a better place if we all knew where we stood.
Professional Credentials Curriculum Vitae Europeia: President x1 Minister of Foreign Affairs x2 Grand Admiral x4 Senator x11 Minister of Communications x1
Current Positions In Other Regions: Queen of Kantrias
Past Positions in Other Regions (Selected): MP (LKE), Minister of the Exterior (LKE), Reichstag Delegate (TNI), Minister (TNI), Reich Elector (TNI), TNI Contingent Commander, (UIAF), Director of Public Relations (Region Inc)
Medals Order of Service to Europeia  , Order of the Bronze Star  , Order of Courage x2 
Testimonials To My Character Named Testimonials [justified]I sometimes suspect that [Kylia] Quilor is here to harvest the tears of young, ambitious nations. - The Bruce O how much we have missed your cynicism [Kylia]. :p - Zaolat I'm so happy you're back but you're also crushing my dreams - Sopo [Kylia] is close to defining the modern Europeian conservative. - Hyanygo You carry an interesting dichotomy about yourself - a mix of fiery passion and cool reservation that both intrigues and concerns me. -Trinnien Kylia is the neighbor at the end of the street that you don't want to mess with during petunia season. -Cat I'd just like to thank KQ for resurrecting this thread, because it was truly what GP needed. </sarcasm>- Cormac Oh man, today I did not wake up thinking "I'll post something defending Kylia" ... but here we are. - Aexnidaral Seymour[/justified] Anonymous Testimonials - “Too much negativity and edginess”
- “We need someone like [her] to keep us from flying too close to the sun”
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JayDee
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Jun 7 2017, 10:32 PM
Post #7
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Never Right, Sometimes Honorable
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- Cerian Quilor
- Jun 7 2017, 10:26 PM
True, but what does that have to do with the price of tea in china? Absolutely nothing, I was just responding to your comment. It wasn't meant to be tied in with the rest of the article.
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The Hon. JayDee Bonaparté, ESS
Special Bars Curriculum Vitae Current Positions (OnderKelkia)Former Positions Minister of Communications (51st & 52nd President) Senator (59th & 61st Senate) Deputy Minister (Communications)(Foreign Affairs) Positions held beyond Europeia Merciam Founder Associate Justice Chief Justice Secretary of Domestic Affairs Senator
Albion Grand Councilman Kingdom of Great Britain His Lordship, Baron Jay Dee Bonaparte 'de Falaise Lord of Parliament x2 Lord Commissioner of the Justiciary x1 Member of Parliament Deputy Prime Minister
|    | My 1776th post
Ra Ra Rasputin Things people say Jaydee Senpai notice me-AexThat's it, no Llama for him. Everyone else still gets one.-VertegerJayDee, we need you to be the entire Government. By yourself.-DarcnessIm a coconut, brown on the outside but a little classically educated white boi on the inside-HyangyoJaydee's actually hot-MangoJayDee does need to turn 18 already, this is true-IsarisJayDee you tricky bastard-LethenWho needs an Ovation when you can have a gold star from JayDee?-ConstieD mak CA gret agin!!11!!-DrexloreHailing Satan is good. Hailing Satan is great. Hail Satan everyday for good luck-Kylia QuilorAs long as I can keep indulging my hobby to liberally swear at 7 year olds Im fine. The tears of young children is what keeps me looking so young myself.-DrecqJay is cool beans. -Pyntuma Real life quotes I've given up on being normal. I've found the only people that are normal are those too afraid to be themselves.-A wise man Look to the stars but keep your feet on the ground.-Teddy Roosevelt All religions must be tolerated for every man must get to heaven his own way.-King Frederick the Great of Prussia Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire, called conscience.-George Washington The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.-James D. Nicoll A gift from Malashaan Family Son of Owen Bonaparte
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