[blml] What is a penalty? (was Law 24) [SEC=UNOFFICIAL]

[Sven Pran]

> On Behalf Of richard.hills at immi.gov.au
> Kojak:
> >Please correct me if I'm wrong. The declarer has
> >exercised an option permitted by Law WHEN HE
> >BECAME THE DECLARER. Other penalties have already
> >been applied per Law 24.  He has decided that he
> >does not wish any additional penalties (Law 50
> >and Law 16) to apply.
> 
> [snip]
> 
> >Again a yes or no would suffice to let me know
> >what we are talking about..
> 
> Richard Hills:
> 
> In my opinion, this is one of the rare cases
> where Kojak is indeed wrong.
> 
> Unless, of course, my own opinion is wrong.
> 
> :-)
> 
> What we are talking about is "what is a penalty?"
> 
> Throughout the 1997 Lawbook, including in Law 24,
> there is repeated this bracketed word:
> 
> (penalty)
> 
> Following each such bracketed word is a specific
> and specified rectification.
> 
> On the other hand, Law 16A does not include the
> bracketed word (penalty).  Rather, Law 16A
> imposes a general obligation that a player may
> not select from amongst logical alternatives
> one that could demonstrably have been suggested
> over another by unauthorised information from
> partner.
> 
> Ergo, in my opinion, neither Law 24 nor Law 81C8
> may be used to waive the general obligation for
> a player to abide by Law 16A.

Your conclusion is correct but your premises are partly wrong: Law 24 does
not give the declarer any option to waive penalties; it gives declarer the
option to waive specifically Law 50 on card(s) exposed during the auction.

Declarer has no option to waive Laws 16A or 16C in this situation, and
whether or not Law 16 had included the term [penalty] makes no difference.

Regards Sven