W100 - Rules

Today I am going to discuss rules, in brief. Why?

Rules are the foundation of laws, and as stated earlier, allow us to live harmoniously in society. More on that later.

Let’s start by examining what is a rule. If you give yourself a few minutes, can you say/write/explain what is a rule?

To define a rule, let’s look closer at a simple scenario:

Imagine you go to the library. There is a sign posted on a wall, easily seen as you enter. The sign says “Do not disturb other users.”

Is this a rule? Of course, we all may agree it is. but what makes this a rule?

First, we know that people use a library to study/concentrate, so that we are aware that disturbing others will break a social tradition/habit.

Secondly, the sign posted has a definite descriptive aspect; that is, it tells us something we may not do. Descriptive rules also state things we may do (often written as ‘ought/not, may/not, can/not’).

Prescriptive rules on the other hand, are rules that give some sort of guidance,e g, “A police officer may use reasonable force in affecting an arrest.”

But here is a catch. Suppose you saw someone putting up the sign as you walk in. Would you be as clear that the sign is to be obeyed? Suppose the sign was put up by a person who is not working in/associated with the library… would the sign have the same impact? Likely not.

One aspect of a rule is that it is backed by authority, by someone/some body in a position to enforce that rule. For example, the librarian may well be able to sanction you in some way.

One of the key problems in writing rules is the need to be precise. You need to say what you want to mean. However, there is a bit of a blowback from this. Can you see any problems? Let’s examine another situation and see if we can clarify. I shall use a similar situation as the OU does.

If I open my garden to visitors, and don’t want them to ruin it, I can put up a sign that says ‘Do not pick flowers.’ Someone then decides to take fruit from my trees by breaking the branches. Okay, now I put up a sign that says ‘Do not pick fruits or flowers.’  Next I see someone cutting branches from the plants that grow by cuttings, claiming that they are not violating the rules I posted.

The way this is going is that I can be adding rules to cover every scenario as they occur. In the meantime, the damage (mischief) is constantly being done, leaving me with an increasingly damaged garden. My list of rules is also growing longer and longer, and takes much time and effort to read.

The solution to this is then to make the rule general enough to cover every scenario while stating my intention. So something like ‘Do not interfere with the plants; leave garden as you find it.’ may be general enough but still make my intention clear: that I want my garden to remain undamaged.

A course on how to write rules, or laws (legislative drafting) is taught at the University of London. The course price is £11,000. I understand there is a similar course in Barbados.

More on rules, and laws, coming up.