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Guideline 23


Reference to other Acts should be kept to a minimum.

23.1. Reference should be made to another Act only if:
  • it makes it possible to simplify the text of the Act making the reference, by not repeating the content of the provision referred to;
  • the comprehensibility of the provision making the reference is not affected; and
  • the Act referred to has been published or is sufficiently accessible to the public.
23.2. When a reference is made to a provision, the main elements (operative facts, or legal consequences) in that provision which are relevant to the reference should be specified.
  23.2.1. References made merely by citing another provision in brackets must be avoided.
  23.2.2. References to existing provisions just for the purpose of requiring their application in unspecified analogous cases (as is done by using words such as “mutatis mutandis”) should be avoided. The purpose for which the reference is made should be stated, or the reference should not be made at all.
  23.2.3. Reference to existing provisions just for the purpose of excluding that the new Act interferes with such provisions (as is done by using words like “without prejudice”) should be avoided. Such references indicate contradictions between the Act containing the reference, and the Act to which reference is thus made, and they should be made unnecessary by better circumscribing the applicability of the new Act.
23.3. An Act should not reproduce the provisions of another Act, but should refer to those provisions. In particular, provisions of primary legislation should never be reproduced in secondary legislation.
23.4. References should be used in moderation, because of the principle of transparency. It should be possible to read and understand an Act without consulting other Acts, and the use of references should not affect the comprehensibility of the text.

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