I agree with what Kim and Tom say;
About the ever creeping plethora of mini legislation in both the UK and USA. Kim Du Toit makes the point that it is difficult for an individual to go two weeks, even in the USA, without committing a ‘crime’. In his piece ‘Flea bites’, referring to an excellent piece of that title by Tom Utley in the Daily Telegraph, he points out how easy it has become to transgress inadvertently.
As an enforcement officer, I can see his point. You have to keep the rules simple enough for people to understand (Although a woeful percentage can’t even understand the simple ‘don’t park here’ premise of Double Yellow lines), or everyone becomes a criminal. The rules must be clear, because not everyone is a lawyer or clever enough to plumb the smothering depths of legalese. The rules have to be simple enough to be understood by both the public and the Enforcement Officers; and few enough so that we can remember most of them. In short, laws have to be enforceable and reasonable – or the whole system implodes and collapses into totalitarianism under the weight of confusing verbiage. Like watching everyone, everywhere, in everything they do. I wonder when – oops, it’s already happening.
Update:
I just got a postal reply from my MP re the ‘Abolition of Parliament act’. Yes, he tells me he will be opposing it. Just to be sure I will be watching the list of names that emerge from the division lobbies. Votes supporting the offending bill or absences and abstentions will be noted. Not that I distrust politicians or anything you understand.
As an enforcement officer, I can see his point. You have to keep the rules simple enough for people to understand (Although a woeful percentage can’t even understand the simple ‘don’t park here’ premise of Double Yellow lines), or everyone becomes a criminal. The rules must be clear, because not everyone is a lawyer or clever enough to plumb the smothering depths of legalese. The rules have to be simple enough to be understood by both the public and the Enforcement Officers; and few enough so that we can remember most of them. In short, laws have to be enforceable and reasonable – or the whole system implodes and collapses into totalitarianism under the weight of confusing verbiage. Like watching everyone, everywhere, in everything they do. I wonder when – oops, it’s already happening.
Update:
I just got a postal reply from my MP re the ‘Abolition of Parliament act’. Yes, he tells me he will be opposing it. Just to be sure I will be watching the list of names that emerge from the division lobbies. Votes supporting the offending bill or absences and abstentions will be noted. Not that I distrust politicians or anything you understand.
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