"Legislation and its context" [2019] ELECD 1735; in Mousmouti, Maria (ed), "Designing Effective Legislation" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) 64

Book Title: Designing Effective Legislation

Editor(s): Mousmouti, Maria

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section: Chapter 4

Section Title: Legislation and its context

Number of pages: 20

Abstract/Description:

The context of legislation is the ‘external’ environment within which legislation will operate. This entails a myriad of obvious or hidden interactions with other legislative texts. Context determines how legislation will integrate the legal system and how it will interact with it. Lawmakers have a number of choices on how to structure legislative messages: as a unique message included in a single Act, as several messages diffused in the legal system, as a fragmented message broken down into smaller portions or as patchwork of messages. Each choice has a distinct impact on the accessibility of the message, its potential to coexist harmoniously with the other elements of the legal system and its potential to produce traceable and measurable results. Effective lawmaking requires conscious choices on the superstructure of legislative texts and in particular on the accessibility and coherence of legislative messages.