The Continuing Debate About 'Plain Language' Legislation: A Law Reform Conundrum

Plain English in the law has been called everything from an access to law 1 or human rights issue, 2 to good professional writing practice. 3 The title of this paper, with its reference to the continuing debate about ‘plain language’ legislation, is my starting point. I say this because the very notion that there can be debate about plain language is contentious in some quarters. Some learned commentators have suggested the notion of plain language (or plain English) legislation is unproblematic: It has often seemed surprising to me that the notion that statutes should be drafted in plain English should be a matter of contention. 4 There is no mystery to plain language. 5 Any errors in the plain English version are the result of difficulties of translation, particularly difficulties in understanding the original version. They are not inherent in plain English itself (emphasis added). 6...