stone.
Obviously, they do not convert base metals into gold; instead they
convert disorganised legal text into structured and coherent legal rules that
enable those who work with the rules to use them in a systematic and effective
way.
Outline
The next part of this chapter explains the nature of, and techniques, for micro
analysis and macro analysis in turn. Then it reveals the purpose of organising
law in these ways by showing the various applications of these techniques. It
concludes with an illustration that incorporates both micro and macro analysis.
Micro Analysis
Introduction
Micro organisation or micro analysis involves looking at one law or rule within
an area of law. This analysis is ultimately determined by one fundamental
principle: law regulates and thus changes the world. Because of this, with
minor exceptions
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every legal rule has a natural and inevitable structure, which
consists of three components –
elements, consequences and a conditional
statement:
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Elements: A legal rules contains elements. An element depicts a
type or category of facts. Taken together the elements depict the overall
category of facts to which a rule applies. Elements are labelled Element 1,
Element 2 and so on, the range of elements for any rule thus being Elements 1-
n. The elements conveniently constitute a checklist for checking the legal rule
against a set of facts to determine if it applies to them.
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Consequences: A legal rules contains the consequences that apply
to the parties involved when each of these elements is satisfied by the facts in a
particular case. For example, when a rule of criminal law applies the defendant
is guilty of a crime and is liable to punishment. When a rule of tort law applies
the defendant is liable to pay damages to compensate the plaintiff for their
injury. Consequences are labelled Consequences 1-n or just Consequences.
#
Conditional Statement: Syntactically a legal rule is constituted as
a conditional statement that links elements and consequences. The essence of
a conditional statement is that when a specified condition occurs, something
else also occurs. For example, if it rains, the ground becomes wet. In a legal
rule the conditional statement provides that if facts in a case satisfy each
element of the legal rule, the consequences designated by the rule apply to
those facts.
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It is, however possible, for a provision in a statute to apply to a specific
person or body or situation rather than a class of facts. An obvious example is a
provision that establishes a body. In this case the rule will just have consequences
and no elements. This provision will take a form such as this: “This section now
establishes a corporation named the Schools Commission”.
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