Report No. 152

5.19. Need for Amendment.-

Notwithstanding clear words, and amendment is needed, because the essential requirements are many times overlooked either deliberately or through oversight. The rush of work may also prevent full and proper attention from being given to the need to satisfy all these requirements, though that cannot be an excuse for non-compliance. In this situation, we are faced with a dilemma when considering the question whether an amendment to highlight these essential features is needed.

On the one hand, a provision which is vitally concerned with liberty should be as precise as possible and it can be argued that even at the cost of making the provision appear cumbersome, one can with some justification, take the liberty of putting more emphatically into the section all those requirements which are unfortunately overlooked sometimes. As against this, there is the consideration that a matter which is already explicit (if the section is read carefully) cannot be added and that such addition goes against the normal practice of legislative drafting.

We have ultimately come to the conclusion that on balance it will be preferable to recommended 'an amendment'. The situation prevailing is one where brevity must yield to clarity; principle and detail must be made to reside together; elegance of form of will have to yield to structural complexity; and profusion of language will have to be regarded as excusable, in order to achieve objectives whose importance transcends the ordinary canons of drafting.