Plain Legal Writing

“Labelling something respectful (or lacking doubt) doesn’t make it so - and almost invariably betrays the opposite,” says Peter Wainman. I couldn’t agree more. If you want to be respectful, don’t begin by saying, ‘with all due respect’ and then proceed to annihilate the person your invective is directed at. And if you want your writing to be doubt-free, write it so that it is; there is no reason to add a two-page long sentence to remove doubts (especially if the doubts are only imaginary).
Also, if there’s one thing which really annoys me every time I read a legal document it’s that I invariably have to make my way through numerous archaic and, possibly, technical phrases which either mean very little or which have simple alternatives in contemporary English.
Kevin of Prosaic Shades of Gray says:

“That lay people ought to be given the opportunity to become better informed on said statutes and precedential opinions is an undeniable entitlement that said time-wasting, English language butchering, hide-and-go-seeking-with-the-legal-issues assholes ought to have respected in the past, and ought to respect in the present and the future. The respondee, hitherto described as KZ, does not appreciate having to spend twenty minutes reading a single page. Said respondee cannot believe that there has been a handful of judges and lawmakers in certain jurisdictions that have written clumsy opinions and statutes employing the hereinbefore described ponderous prose well into the 1950s. But respondee has over two years left of law school, so he may well eventually discover other opinions and statutes written in the manner so described that date even later than the previously mentioned date above.”

The Plain English Campaign speaks of the problem in plain English at plainenglish.co.uk/drafting.htm.
Also, the National Adult Literacy Agency, Ireland provides ‘A Plain English Guide to Legal Terms‘ which explains 1400 legal words and phrases as a free pdf document at nala.ie/publications/listing/20051101163023.html while the Scottish Government provides a booklet on plain language and legislation at scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/02/17093804/7.