AA:I'mAviArdittiwithRosanneSkirble, andthisweekonWORDMASTER: OurguestisDavidMarcello, executivedirectorofthePublicLawCenter, ajointprogramoftheTulaneandLoyolalawschoolsinNewOrleans.

RS:Forabout20 yearsnow, thecenterhasbeentrainingpeoplefromothercountrieswhosejobistowritelegislation. Morethan500 legislativedraftersfrom90 countrieshaveattendedatraininginstituteheldeachJune.

AA:DavidMarcellosaystwotrendsaccountfortheneedforincreasedskillsinlegislativedrafting. Thefirst: themovetowardaglobaleconomy, requiringmoreinternationaltradeagreements.

DAVIDMARCELLO:"Thesecondisthemovetowarddemocratization, whichlikewiserequiresanewregimeofdomesticlaws. Solegislativedraftingpersonnel-- thepeoplewhoactuallywritetheactsthatareconsideredbylegislativebodies-- havebeenundertheguntoproducebetterdraftsoflegislation. Andourprogramhasattemptedtorespondtothatneedwiththetwo-weektrainingprogram."

RS:"Howimportantislanguage?"

DavidMarcello

DAVIDMARCELLO:"Languageis, ofcourse, howwecommunicatepolicy, andit'simportantthatthosecommunications-- particularlyintheformoflegislation-- bedirectandsimpleandfreeasmuchaspossiblefromambiguity."

RS:"Yousaythatit'simportanttobedirectandtobesimple. Howdoyouteachthatintwoweeks?"

DAVIDMARCELLO:"Weliketoaskourdraftersattheendofthetraining, Whichofthetechniquesthatwehavesuggestedcanyoutakehomenextweekandputintopracticeinyouroffice? Andthenwelistthem: shortersentencesandparagraphs. Everydaylanguage. Wordsthathaveordinarymeaningsindictionaries. Punctuationthatisusedappropriately.

"Allofthesethingsarethingsthatdrafterscandotoenhancereaderunderstandingandtoeliminateambiguityinthelaw. Andtheydonotneedtoaskpermissiontodothesethings. Theycandothembecausetheyareappropriatelywithintherealmofthedrafter'sroleanddiscretion.

"Manypiecesoflegislationarewritteninawaythatsuggeststheyonlyspeaktoonegroupofpeople: thelawyerswhowroteit. Infact, legislationshouldspeakasbroadlyaspossibletoasmanypeopleaspossible, andplainEnglishisonewayofdoingthat-- orplainlanguage, moregenerallyspeaking."

AA:"AndI'mcuriousaboutthat. Again, fromlanguagetolanguage, culturetoculture, aretheresomewhereyoufindit'sjusteasiertowritemoreplainlyanddirectly?"

DAVIDMARCELLO:"Ithinkacrossmostculturesthetendencytowriteinmorecomplicatedmodesofexpressionhasbeencharacteristicinthepast. Iseeitasmoreameasureofmodernity, movingintoamoremodernidiom, thatwemovefromcomplicatedtosimplerexpression.

"Youknow, youhavetohaveacertainconfidenceinyourabilityasaculturetoexpresspolicybeforeyoucanembracethesimplestwayofdoingthat. Thelawhasadignitythatwillnotbedeniedbytheuseofplainlanguage. Itdoesnotneedoutdated, complicatedformsofexpressioninordertoaccomplishitspurposes. And, infact, itspurposesarebestaccomplishedbytheuseofplainlanguageratherthanlanguagethatkeepsreadersfromunderstandingwhat'sintended."

RS:"Whenyoupresenttheseideastoyourstudents, thepeoplewhoaretakingyourseminarfromothercountries, areyoubasicallyraisingawarenesstothispoint?"

DAVIDMARCELLO:"I'llrelateforyouananecdotethatoneofourformerdraftingparticipantsgavetous. Shesaidthatshefeltshehadnotbeenwell-servedbyherlegaleducationbecauseshewastaughttowriteinflowerylanguage. Andsherealizedasshelookedbackuponitthatthatmighthavebeenadeliberatestrategybyagovernmentthatwasnotparticularlygovernedbytheruleoflaw, butratherbytheruleofedict. Theruleoflawcarriessubstanceandmeaningatitsheartanditconstrainsgovernment."

AA:DavidMarcelloatthePublicLawCenterinNewOrleanssayslegislativedrafterssometimesfaceresistancetowhattheylearnthere. Buthesayssomecountrieshaveinvitedstafffromthecentertocomeandprovidefollow-uptraining.

RS:Trainingnotonlyforotherdrafters, butinsomecasesforthepoliticianselectedtovoteonwhattheydraft. Andthat'sWORDMASTERforthisweek. WithAviArditti, I'mRosanneSkirble.