Too Many Laws For The Lawmakers To Understand – What Chance Do We Have?

It has been announced that Baroness Scotland is to be fined £5,000 for failing to correctly follow the law in regard to establishing legal status before employing her (now ex) housekeeper. Apparently the Prime Minister continues to consider her a valuable asset to government even though as a presumably, great legal mind she failed to follow the law in a piece of legislation she was largely responsible for when it went through parliament.

The rest of us may have the excuse of ignorance of the law, though it is said to be no legal defence. Anyone who was involved in pushing a law through parliament can have no defence whatsoever and when it is the attorney general who advises government on the law it is simply astonishing that such a mistake can be considered acceptable and not require instant resignation.

I accept that we all make mistakes and I would much prefer an honest politician who admits to making mistakes and is prepared to apologise to the electorate. I would prefer that to the slimy weasel words we so often hear as MP’s and government ministers wriggle in their attempts to maintain an illusion that they are perfect.

However, we the electorate have these laws imposed on us without our agreement or request. Nobody asked me to give my opinion on immigration law before the last election and the law was enacted without any agreement from me. Yet, if I employ someone I am subject to this law and I am expected to understand it and should I fail I am subject to fines and even a possible jail sentence. I do not pretend to be an expert on the law yet my life could be destroyed by an innocent mistake through not knowing about, or not understanding laws such as this but I am legally required to know about it and understand it.

There can be absolutely no excuse for the Attorney General to not know about this law since she was a minister at the home office pushing the bill through Parliament. As a legal expert she has no excuse for not following the letter of the law. If she couldn’t manage to be aware of, or understand the law what chance have the rest of us.

If there is one lesson from this episode it is that we already have too many laws that are understood by too few people. If ordinary decent and honest people are turned into lawbreakers through ignorance there is something wrong with the system. The alternative would be that we all give up our jobs and spend our days studying the legislation pouring out of Parliament but that would clearly be ridiculous and hardly beneficial to the country.