59[2000] QSC 002 at paras 21 and 22.
60Hon Justice Dyson Heydon Judicial Activism and the Death of the Rule of Law Otago Law Review
(2004) Vol 10 No 4, 493 at 509.
37
It would have been relatively straight forward to express the notion simply and clearly but any
requirement of intellectual discipline is avoided by the modern parliamentary draftsman for whom
freedom of expression is to be prized above comprehension.59
68
More recently and sympathetically, Justice Dyson Heydon, a Judge of the High
Court of Australia, has written:
Parliament, when it changes the law, is usually capable of doing so with a degree o f clarity because
legislation is drafted by persons with considerable training, experience and skill in drafting. They are
capable of achieving a much greater degree of precision than a group of judges can, particularly a
group of judges speaking in separate judgments. 60
69
Im with Justice Hey don.
Part 4
Other factors affecting accessibility of legislation
Complex legislative schemes
70
The complexity of a legislative regime can affect the accessibility of legislation.
The ballet Coppelia by Delibes is set in a town in Galicia. It is the story of Dr
Coppélius, a toymaker, and of the infatuation of a handsome young villager called
Franz, who is engaged to the burgermeister daughter Swanilda, with one of Dr
Coppélius dolls. If Dr Coppélius were alive today, living in New Zealand, and
carrying on business as the owner of a toy shop, he would be faced with having to
comply with various pieces of legislation, including the Holidays Act 2003, the
Employment Relations Act 2000, and the Health and Safety in Employment Act
1992. Another piece of legislation directly affecting his business would be the Fair