VERB FORMS

Tense and Mood

As the law is "always speaking", verbs in legislation should generally be written in the present tense^[1] and the indicative mood.

Examples:

  5. A licence is valid for one year after the day on which it is issued.

  6. These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.

The major exception^[2] regarding mood occurs in rules of conduct; e.g., when someone is required or permitted to do something, as in "Every person shall (or must or may)^[3] … ."

Active vs. Passive Voice

In a sentence using the active voice, the agent performing the action serves as subject; e.g., "The superintendent shall examine all applications." In a sentence using the passive voice, the recipient of the action serves as subject; e.g., "An application must be submitted each year."

Use of the active voice is generally preferred over use of the passive voice. The active voice is better at stating who has a power or an obligation. The active voice should also be used when creating rules of conduct that, if contravened, are to be offences. The passive voice is preferable if

• it is not necessary to identify the person or thing carrying out the action. In this case, the person or thing carrying out the action would be implied or undetermined;

• the emphasis is intended to be on the subject of the action and not on the person or thing carrying out the action.

Part 4 – Table of contents

Footnotes

• ^[1] See section 10 of the Interpretation Act.

• ^[2] The use of modal verbs is fully discussed in Legistics, Part 2, in the article entitled "Present Indicative".

• ^[3] See "MUST", "MAY" AND "SHALL" in Legistics.