by Matthew Bransgrove | Jul 17, 2015 | The Rule of Law
Laws not executed are worse than none, and only teach men to despise law: whereas reverence and obedience go together. —Thomas Gordon. Cato’s Letters No. 57, Of false honour, public and private, Saturday, December 16, 1721. Unwanted laws should be removed from the...
by Matthew Bransgrove | Jul 16, 2015 | The Rule of Law
Crimes will be less frequent in proportion as the code of laws is more universally read and understood. —Cesare Beccaria. Of Crimes and Punishments, 1764. The whole body of statute law should follow a theme which makes finding the law intuitive. To this end the people...
by Matthew Bransgrove | Jul 16, 2015 | The Rule of Law
Laws are made for men of ordinary understanding, and should, therefore, be construed by the ordinary rules of common sense. Their meaning is not to be sought for in metaphysical subtleties, which may make anything mean everything or nothing, at pleasure. —Thomas...
by Matthew Bransgrove | Jul 16, 2015 | The Rule of Law
Laws should be clearly written so they are capable of only one interpretation. Ambiguities should be removed where they prove persistent or force judges into contortions destructive of the principle of literal statutory interpretation.
by Matthew Bransgrove | Jul 16, 2015 | The Rule of Law
Laws should be drafted so they can serve for extended periods. Settled laws, which have been bedded down by a body of case law, should not be lightly altered. Every time the law is altered, the long-term planning of lives and businesses is disrupted. It can take...
