Abstract

The chapter summarises traditional teachings in legislative drafting, and identifies five misconceptions. Misconception 1: drafting conventions always lead to quality. But the Phronetic legislative drafting nature of drafting prevents nomoteleia of drafting conventions. Misconception 2: Legislative quality rests in a vacuum. But the interconnectivity between policy, law, and legislative expression render their interdependence profound and critical. Misconception 3: legislative quality is undefinable. But Effectiveness of legislation is a prominent definition of legislative quality. Misconception 4: Effectiveness of legislation always leads to legislative quality. But legislation suffers from inherent limits: its interconnection and reliance to regulation, the limits of legislation as written communication, and the intrinsic aversion of users to legislative texts. Misconception 5: in view of the unsurpassable limits of legislative texts, legislative quality should not be pursued further. But there is hope ahead, such as the layered structure of legislative texts, the use of image in legislative texts, and the restructuring of the statute book as a whole.