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A Law when compleat.
A law is compleat, (that is in compleatly
expressed) when the act it prohibits- (to take
the instance of a prohibition Law) is so fully and the
punishment for it (to take the instance of
a penal Law,) are so expressed as that, granting the act
so described to have been done, no supposition
can be framed, on which, according
to the Will of the Legislator, the punishment
in question shall not take place
This being the case, for Law one shall scarce
see an instance perhaps of a Law standing entire
with having all it's parts collected together into
one continuous series uncompleated with
any part of any other Law.
Several qualifying or restrictive clauses there are which
are common to a large group of Laws:
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and which must be taken into the expression
of each before it is compleat.
for instance are those which Let the Law against Robbery stand serve
for an example. Let Robbery be
the act prohibited, and hanging the
punishment under which for it. Such a Law Let the
Law framed against it be - "If any one
committed Robbery he shall be hanged."
This Law I say is not compleat cannot be given for a compleat
one. For a supposition can be framed
on which, according to the Will of the
Legislator (according to the Will indeed of any Legislator)
the punishment in question should
not take place.
The reason is the act prohibited is not as
yet perfectly described. the circumstances person perform
INTROD. A Law - when compleat BR
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of the circumstances of the person performing
it are not yet ascertained by the proper
limitations. It is not meant that all persons whatever with no exception in
in all circumstances the state persons in all circumstances
shall suffer as is mentioned. Certain Exceptions
would be there are which would be made by every
Legislator to when they should , exceptions
to the description of the person, that is
to the description of the act. Exceptions,
I mean, (to take these two only for instance) in favour
of persons under Infancy and
Insanity. What is meant therefore is not that
all persons whatever shall suffer that
punishment for that act but so many
only as remain after persons under
those circumstances have been excepted.
The Law against Robbery is therefore
not compleat untill a clause establishing
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the exceptions has been inserted
in it.
But there is equal need of the a clause
to the same purport to be added to
the respective Laws against many other
To the Laws against Theft for example,
against Fire-raising, and against Murder.
Each of these 4 Laws therefore, in order to be compleat, requires this same
clause to be made part of, and to be inserted
in them it. But if it were inserted
as a part of each of them it
would be thrice repeated: which would be
a waste of words. To save this, it is
would naturally be inserted in the Code
apart from all any all of them, ready
to apply to any. By which means
there is not one of them all whose parts
would follow each other in compleat an order+ +compleat and uninterrupted.
this being wanting to every one.
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Identifier: | JB/070/008/001 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 70.
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of laws in general |
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008 |
introd. a law - when compleat |
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jeremy bentham |
[[watermarks::gr [crown motif] [britannia with shield motif]]] |
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