§ 18. Mr. Hector Hughesasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps, pending the comprehensive legislation on law reform planned by the Government, to simplify the language used in the legislation now in preparation by the Government.
§ Mr. MacDermotThe language of the legislation now in preparation by the Government will be as simple as the subject matter permits, but the primary objective in legislation must always be certainty.
§ Mr. HughesIs not that Answer too legalistic? Should not the ordinary citizen be taken into account? Will he not have to construe the new and beneficial series of Statutes which are being brought forward by the Government, and is this not, therefore, a very urgent matter which should be dealt with at once?
§ Mr. MacDermotThe Answer was as legalistic as the subject matter. Certainly it is our desire that Statutes should be phrased in language as simple as possible, but this in itself has its pitfalls. Hon. Members who belong to the legal profession will be well aware that the body of Statutes which was deliberately designed in ordinary layman's language, namely, the Rent Acts, has probably as a result given rise to more litigation than any other series of Statutes.