50Ibid , p 1.
32
developments in the drafting and presentation of legislation in other jurisdictions.
57
There are a number of differences between the Bill recommended by the Law
Commission and the Act. For example the Act did not, as the Law Commission had
recommended, reverse the statutory presumption that the Crown is not bound by
Acts of Parliament. The Act is longer and more detailed than the proposed Bill. The
new Act has removed anomalies and inconsistencies in the earlier statute and, in
restating many of the provisions in that statute in simpler and plainer language, it
was designed to lead the way. Because interpretation legislation contains the
legislatures own directions to readers of legislation and to the courts as to how
legislation is to be interpreted, it ought to be the most accessible of all the statutes.
58
In its report The Format of Legislation, the Law Commission recommended a
fundamental redesign of the New Zealand statute book. As the Commission
observed in its report:
Good, functional typography and design are invisible. G ood design allows readers to
concentrate their energy on substance rather than be distracted by form at. Good design can
also facilitate the very drafting of legislation because it can make the task more logical. The
nature of the message will of course influence the appea rance of the text: the design m ust
be appropriate to the substance, and to the reader. But bad design remains bad design, even
though it may be redeemed to some extent by familiarity.50
59
A number of factors were identified as influencing the need for change. They
included, echoing Tacitus, the increasing complexity and volume of legislation, the
need for legislators to spend more time dealing with legislative policy and not trying
to ascertain meaning, the need for administrators to understand the law they
administer, the need for lawyers to ascertain the law more easily, economic savings,