Dr Ruth Dixon participates in online panel on Good Lawmaking

Ruth Dixon joined an expert panel for an online discussion hosted by the Guardian (19 April) on how to make law more effective and accessible.

As the UK Cabinet Office launches a new Good Law Initiative designed to spark debate over how to improve the user experience of legislation, the panel discussion tackled a series of questions including what defines good law, how can law be made easier to understand, and what alternatives are there to using legislation. One of the central topics was the issue of legal complexity, and the need to better understand the multiple interconnections of legal effects.

Ruth noted that the practice of amending legislation during the parliamentary process can contribute to increased complexity of the resulting laws. She also observed, however, that similar complaints concerning legal complexity have been made since at least 1975, suggesting there are few easy solutions to these problems.

More information on the discussion can be found on the Guardians website here.