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Luckily you're not a cynic, Mr Hyde. Drafting legislation to do exactly what is intended and not make any unforeseen or unplanned changes is actually harder than you might think. Drafters have to start from what the law currently is, and therefore it's not easy to use 'plain language' especially when the starting point is what was conventional 20, 30, 50 or 100 years ago. Attempts are made to modernise and simplify wording but there is an assumption that if you use different words in the same context you mean something different. Parliamentary Counsel (who draft statutes) often work against great time pressures. They don't always get it right and personally I'm surprised they don't make more mistakes.

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