By-laws - Queensland Law Society

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Communication Part 2 – The finer points of drafting T he pro cess of com pos ing a well struc - tured and ef fec tive doc u ment in volves a num ber of cru cial steps. The first edi tion in this se ries (printed in the Feb ru ary Ver dict) looked at writ ing doc u ments us ing plain and clear lan guage. This in stall ment will cover the es sen tials of draft ing as they ap ply to writ ing vir tu ally any type of pa per. The impor tance of effec tive draft ing cannot be under stated. Draft ing enables the writer to struc ture arguments, empha sise impor tant points and essen - tially optimize the “flow” of the document. In addition to this, draft ing lets the author analyse and restruc - ture (where neces sary) sentences and paragraphs to ensure correct grammar and word usage. While there are many facets of draft ing, this paper will analyse those most crucial to the writing process. communication breakdown break down Length The length of a document is very impor tant. A short, precise document will more readily convey your message, so where possi ble, try to be succinct. It has been stated that: “Many legal documents are unnec es sar ily lengthy, overwrit ten, self conscious and repeti tious. They consist of lengthy sentences and involved sentence construc tion. They are poorly struc tured and poorly designed. They suffer from elabo rate and often unnec es sary cross-refer enc ing. They retain archaic phrases. They use techni cal terms and foreign words and phrases even when English equiv a lents are readily avail able. They are unintel li gi ble to the ordinary reader and barely intel li gi ble to many lawyers”. 1 To this end, it is clear that the wording of a document must be pitched at a level appro pri ate to Vol. 2 2006 The Verdict 55
communication breakdown the target audience - for if a lawyer experi ences diffi - culty inter pret ing a legal document, what chance has the layman? There fore, as a rule of thumb, points should be made with the least number of words possi ble, within reason and without sacri fic ing the fluency of the document. Techni cal & foreign language A common problem in draft ing is the use of techni - cal and foreign language. Techni cal or indus try specific language can be very daunt ing for your audience. Although the use of techni cal jargon is sometimes unavoid able, this is not an excuse to become lazy in draft ing. A way of combat ing this confu sion is by giving a defini tion or clari fy ing the term in a footnote or endnote. Foreign words and phrases can also cause your audience confu sion. The English language has now incor po rated many foreign words and, despite this, a large propor tion of them are not under stood by the general public. The legal indus try, for instance, uses a minefield of Latin terms and phrases. In his book on legal writing, Rylance 2 aptly states; “...the use of Latin and Law French by lawyers may have histor i cal use but it has no justi fi ca tion in modern practice. At best it is an affec ta tion turned to habit, at worst, an attempt to intim i date the reader. These foreign words and phrases have English equiv a lents which are every bit as good and more likely to be under stood”. Consid er ing this, where it is possi ble an English equiv a lent should always be used, rather than a foreign word or phrase. Accepted word usage It is impor tant when choos ing words or phrases to keep in mind their gener ally accepted defini tion, and the target audience your work will reach. The defini - tion of a word in the English language in one country can mean something very differ ent in another. General terms such as the all-Austra lian ‘schoo ner’ of beer can cause much confu sion. A schoo ner in the United Kingdom is a sailing boat. Another example would be the use of the term “traffic lights” in a document target ing a South African audience, where traffic lights are commonly referred to as “robots”. Where possi ble, it is also advis able to avoid collo - qui al isms if you wish your work to have univer sal appeal. For example, rather than refer ring to a small aluminium boat as a “tinnie”, its formal name should be used. To avoid causing confu sion or offence to any reader, it is always best to research your target audience and tailor your wording accord ingly. Non-discrim i na tory and gender neutral language Gener ally, discrim i na tory language can be construed as language that expresses a preju dice against an individ ual for some factor that is out of their control. The danger of discrim i na tory language is that it can be offen sive not only to your audience but also to the larger commu nity. 56 The Verdict Vol. 2 2006 Draft ing without discrim i na tory language is not merely about being polit i cally correct. Language can, and does, affect the way in which the audience reacts. Good draft ing will avoid describ ing people through stereo types – it is not neces sary to point out differ ences that are not relevant to the subject of your document. One of the most common forms of discrim i na tory language relates to gender. To write in a manner that is gender-neutral involves the removal of terms such as “he”, “she”, “him” or “her”. It is easy to find examples of where this is not done well. Papers on crime often catego rise the offender as “he”, where they should actually use a neutral terms such as “the offender”. Remem ber too, it is impor tant to be sensi tive to what is socially accept able at the time of writing. What is appro pri ate can, and does, change over time. To illus trate, in times past terms were used that are now consid ered both derog a tory and offen sive. Dr Matthew Conaglen gives an excel lent example of this when he states: “...the accept able term for African Ameri cans has ranged from black through Negro, Afro-Ameri can and coloured, to African Ameri can or people of colour”. 3 Thus, it is vital to remain up to date with your knowl edge of socially accept able terms of refer ence if you do not wish to offend. Definite direc tions Does your document include instruc tions or direc - tions? Do you require your reader to accom plish something by a given date or time? A writer must always be vigilant in their expla na tions and direc - tions. Your reader should never be left in any doubt as to how, or when, they are to act. When giving direc tions or explain ing compli cated issues it can also be very diffi cult to be clear using just words. This is where the use of visual aids such as graphs, tables and maps may be used to best effect. Graphs and charts can make a new subject for your audience clearer and easier to under stand. They can even take away the need for complex descrip tions and expla na tions. For example, the use of a visual aide in the form of a map will always the easiest way to explain a geograph ical location or how to get from point A to point B. Dates and times Dates and times are both issues to be very careful with. The customs and conven tions of differ ent locations should be kept in mind. When writing for an inter state or overseas audience, remem ber to consider business days, public holidays and time zones. For example all states on the east coast of Austra lia are in the same time zone. This is called the Austra lia Eastern Standard Time. However, Queensland does not currently have daylight savings. This means Queensland is one hour behind for several months each year. Keeping this in mind an example of a clearly written date is; 5.00pm (Brisbane, Qld) on the 14 Novem ber 2006.
Page 1: The Verdict 2006 Volume 2 EXCLUSIVE
Page 4 and 5: What’s inside What’s in side
Page 6 and 7: inside the law by Stephen Irwin & S
Page 8 and 9: inside the law While Marie’s norm
Page 10 and 11: law & homelessness law & homelessne
Page 12 and 13: unjust or incor rect listing is by
Page 14 and 15: Legis la tion Child Employ ment Act
Page 16 and 17: people in the law Private eye with
Page 18 and 19: What is preven tive law? Stated sim
Page 20 and 21: The court held that Bugden had deli
Page 22 and 23: Notes 1 (1971) 26 ALR 584 2 Ollier
Page 24 and 25: Follow ing the HIH collapse and the
Page 26 and 27: Two cases which demon strate these
Page 28 and 29: activ i ties and proce dures which
Page 30 and 31: A fter by Mitch ell Beck Mitchell i
Page 32 and 33: 32 The Verdict Vol 1. 2006 Vol. 2 2
Page 34 and 35: family law them from having direct
Page 36 and 37: family law and effec tive partic i
Page 38 and 39: community titles law community titl
Page 40 and 41: While the commit tee can under take
Page 42 and 43: CASE WATCH Case No.1 Being a ‘Sex
Page 44 and 45: succession law Obtain ing a copy of
Page 46 and 47: PAMD Act PAMD Act Prop erty Agents
Page 48 and 49: • Mag is trates Court’s civil j
Page 52 and 53: Attach ments Sched ules and attach
Page 54 and 55: popular current petition is on the
Page 56 and 57: Glossary Adjudi ca tion The legal p
Page 58 and 59: Puzzle page Act Adjudication Bilate

By-laws - Queensland Law Society

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?