Report No. 61

Care to be taken in the use of language in legislative drafting.- In recasting section 5, we should not only specify the sales and purchases which do not come within the course of import or export but also try to indicate the positive aspect of the matter by spelling out clearly the transactions which should come within the limits and boundaries of such course. We should not forget that in judicial decisions language plays an insignificant role but in legislative enactments language is the life-blood. Therefore, in accepting a principle, criterion or guideline laid in a judicial decision, the legislator must be very wary in adopting the language used by the Court.