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March 19, 2007
Legalese
The Monk has spent the last couple of days working on a project for a client. This has involved looking at a series of Regulations drafted in the last six years by our Wonders of Whitehall and trying to extract enough information to make sense of them. Now in the ordinary course of events that should be straight forward, but the client wanted some specific information, and that is a lot more complicated!
To begin with the client wanted to verify the contents of a certain section of one particular set of regulations. Guess what, he had the right section. He even had the right regulations, but our Whitehall W*****s have helpfully posted a "Consolidated Text" on their website - which omits the specific regulation! It appears that it was omitted in error when the regulations were re-written six years ago replacing an earlier set, which included this specific requirement, and it has taken them this long to realise it. So, Whitehall solution number one; draft a new Statutory Instrument with that regulation on it. Solution number 2 omit it from your consolidation, finally stick a date in the future on it for it to come into force! The fact that this leaves several enforcing agencies high and dry and liable for all kinds of accusations if it should go wrong in the meantime - which it has - doesn't seem to worry them. After all, its not going to be their problem is it? Not likely, the Minister will make the usual non-answers in the House, the poor b*gger on the sharp end will be hung out to dry and the rest will collect their big fat pensions and their knighthoods and go merrily on their way rejoicing.
Obviously the Monk is far to professional - he always took the can when he got it wrong. Must be why he didn't get the big pension and the gongs.
He did mention that his client is a Barrister about to defend someone over an alleged failure covered by the missing regulation didn't he ........
Posted by The Gray Monk at March 19, 2007 06:00 PM
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