transparency”
176
it is necessary for a judgment to display a “full exhibition” of
“the reasoning process”
177
that decided the case. Yet, this ideal may not be
possible in practice. There is a view which says that it is inescapable that
reasons will “reveal only part of the journey to the moment of decision”.
178
Judging Completeness
There is also no perfect measure of when information is complete. At best
there is a general direction that the amount of information required will usually
depend on the purpose of the text and the needs of the class of readers for
whom it is written. This general proposition, however, yields some specific
advice.
Purpose of the Readers
Keep in mind the purpose of your readers. Remembering in this regard that
there will be delvers as well as porers.
Answer the Pertinent Questions
Heed the advice given to reporters by newspaper editors. Answer the pertinent
questions by telling your readers who, what, when, where, why and how.
Sufficiency of Detail
Give the details necessary to make sense of the subject and to satisfy the
reader. So, if you are describing something give particulars. For example, if
you
want to say that the poet John Keats died young, you can say it, but it is
better if you also state the age at which he died. Better still, state the year and
date of his birth and death. As another example, do not just say that Les Darcy
(the champion boxer of the early 20th century) was born in the Hunter Valley.
State also the town, namely Maitland.
Economics of Information Transfer
The need to be complete is of special importance for information that is
unique, hard to find, or special in some way, for example because you are one
of the few, or even the only one, to obtain and know this information. There is
a strong case for telling your readers information that they could not easily
find, or could not otherwise know at all. You possess it because of hard, even
painstaking work. So share the benefit with others.
This is the relative input-output principle, which is based on the economics of
information transfer. It applies where there is a high input-output ratio on the
___________________
176
Mason in Sheard (2003) p 2
177
Mason in Sheard (2003) p 2
178
Biogenic v Medeva [1997] RPC 1, 45 per Lord Hoffman, Aktiebolaget
Hasse v Alphapharm Pty Ltd (2002) 77 ALJR 398, 416 [90], 417 [97]
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