4 ms·

I'm completely ignorant in the legal texts/contracts area, but they don't use parenthesis and lists? That seems hard to believe - or is it that they just don't

I'm completely ignorant in the legal texts/contracts area, but they don't use parenthesis and lists? That seems hard to believe - or is it that they just don't use it to indicate precedence and order?

pintxo 7y ago
They do to some degree. But it could be a lot better.
throwaway744678 7y ago
How would one parse "if A and B or C"? You'd want to add parentheses "(A and B) or C"; or "A and (B or C)". For a simple case, a comma might suffice, but more conditions can get difficult to express unambiguously in plain language.
cfield 7y ago
Canons of legal construction exist because of ambiguity in human language. Here are a few that illustrate common imprecision in language.[0] Conjunctive/Disjunctive Canon. And joins a conjunctive list, or a disjunctive list—but with negatives, plurals, and various specific wordings there are nuances. Last-Antecedent Canon. A pronoun, relative pronoun, or demonstrative adjective generally refers to the nearest reasonable antecedent. Series-Qualifier Canon. When there is a straightforward, parallel construction that involves all nouns or verbs in a series, a prepositive or postpositive modifier normally applies to the entire series. Nearest-Reasonable-Referent Canon. When the syntax involves something other than a parallel series of nouns or verbs, a prepositive or postpositive modifier normally applies only to the nearest reasonable referent. Proviso Canon. A proviso conditions the principal matter that it qualifies—almost always the matter immediately preceding. General/Specific Canon. If there is a conflict between a general provision and a specific provision, the specific provision prevails (generalia specialibus non derogant). ——- [0] https://www.law.uh.edu/faculty/adjunct/dstevenson/2018Spring/CANONS%20OF%20CONSTRUCTION.pdf https://www.law.uh.edu/faculty/adjunct/dstevenson/2018Spring...
perl4ever 7y ago
As a programmer that used to work with lawyers, they don't seem to get the idea of precedence/parentheses in the context of boolean logic.

pintxo 7y ago

They do to some degree. But it could be a lot better.

throwaway744678 7y ago

How would one parse "if A and B or C"? You'd want to add parentheses "(A and B) or C"; or "A and (B or C)". For a simple case, a comma might suffice, but more conditions can get difficult to express unambiguously in plain language.

cfield 7y ago

Canons of legal construction exist because of ambiguity in human language. Here are a few that illustrate common imprecision in language.[0] Conjunctive/Disjunctive Canon. And joins a conjunctive list, or a disjunctive list—but with negatives, plurals, and various specific wordings there are nuances. Last-Antecedent Canon. A pronoun, relative pronoun, or demonstrative adjective generally refers to the nearest reasonable antecedent. Series-Qualifier Canon. When there is a straightforward, parallel construction that involves all nouns or verbs in a series, a prepositive or postpositive modifier normally applies to the entire series. Nearest-Reasonable-Referent Canon. When the syntax involves something other than a parallel series of nouns or verbs, a prepositive or postpositive modifier normally applies only to the nearest reasonable referent. Proviso Canon. A proviso conditions the principal matter that it qualifies—almost always the matter immediately preceding. General/Specific Canon. If there is a conflict between a general provision and a specific provision, the specific provision prevails (generalia specialibus non derogant). ——- [0] https://www.law.uh.edu/faculty/adjunct/dstevenson/2018Spring/CANONS%20OF%20CONSTRUCTION.pdf https://www.law.uh.edu/faculty/adjunct/dstevenson/2018Spring...

perl4ever 7y ago

As a programmer that used to work with lawyers, they don't seem to get the idea of precedence/parentheses in the context of boolean logic.