⁴⁷NZLC R 27.      ⁴⁸NZLC R 35.      ⁴⁹(1997) 559 NZPD 869-879. 30 called The Format of Legislation, ⁴⁷ and Report No 35 published in 1996 and called Legislation Manual Structure and  Style.⁴⁸ The reports represented an integrated approach to reform of the language and design of New Zealand legislation. It was brave of the Commission to suggest that New Zealand legislation was other than perfect. However, its recommendations reflected pressure for change world-wide and there was not a doubt that change was needed. 53 With effect from 1 January 1997, the New Zealand Parliamentary Counsel Office made a number of modest changes to the style and expression of legislation. These included: • avoiding archaic language (“hereby ”, “notwithstanding”, “hereunto”) • expressing dates in simpler form (“1 January 1997” , rather than “the 1st day of January 1997”) • omitting unnecessary referential words (“of  this Act”, “ of this section”, “of this subsection”)  when it is clear which part of the Act is being referred to • using arabic in place of roman numerals (“Part 21”,  instead of “Part XXI” ) • using “m ust”  rather than “shall”  (“notic e must be given”, not “notice  shall be given”) • using the active voice (“The  Minister may appoint up to 9 members”  instead of “Up to 9 members may  be appointed by the Minister”) • omitting qualifying words (“subject to”, “except as provided in”) • using simpler expressions of age (“a person  who is 18 years old” instead of “a person who has attained the age  of 18”). The  changes  were  debated  in  Parliament  and  welcomed.⁴⁹  Otherwise  they  went unnoticed, as they should have.