[blml] A player's view [SEC=UNOFFICIAL]

[richard.hills at immi.gov.au]

Richard Hills:

>>>Thirdly, I argue that (in some circumstances) non-objective
>>>or subjective Alert regulations are highly desirable, to
>>>prevent sea-lawyers wriggling through loopholes.

Nigel (John McEnroe) Guthrie:

>>You cannot be serious!
>>.....
>>A subjective regulation makes it easier for each individual
>>to impose his own idiosyncratic interpretation and judgement

Professor Stephen Bartos, The Public Sector Informant, March
2007 (monthly supplement to The Canberra Times), page 14:

[snip]

>In the early years of the Howard Government, there was a
>strong commitment to reducing internal regulation.  One of
>the crowning achievements was the introduction of the new
>Public Service Act 1999, a brief, principles-based Act that
>replaced not only the cumbersome 1922 Act (described in the
>explanatory memorandum as "a mechanism of control ... riddled
>with unnecessary restrictions and arcane details") but
>literally hundreds of detailed subordinate rules and
>regulations.  The new Public Service Act was recognised not
>only in Australia but worldwide as a model of its kind for
>brevity and precision.

[snip]

>All these reforms relied on an important insight about how to
>regulate: that principles work better than detailed rules.
>It might not be readily apparent, but experience shows that
>principles are actually more effective in guiding behaviour:
>because they are less likely to be contradictory, apply to
>more situations, and are easier to understand.
>
>By contract, detailed rules have the perverse effect of
>encouraging officials to develop immense expertise in finding
>loopholes and exceptions.  They stifle innovation and
>creativity, and prevent public servants who find better ways
>to achieve objectives from doing so.

[big snip]

Richard Hills:

An uppity colonial who is the descendant of convicts might
rudely describe the latest iteration of the English Bridge
Union alert regulation as "riddled with unnecessary
restrictions and arcane details".  See:

http://www.ebu.co.uk/lawsandethics/articles/orangebook/default.htm

Meanwhile that same uppity colonial might parochially sing the
praises of the ABF Alert Regulation, noting that the ABF has
had a vast reduction in rulings and appeals involving players'
misinterpretation of the alert regs since the introduction of
its "principles-based" alert policy over a decade ago.  See:

http://www.abf.com.au/members/alertingregs.html

Best wishes

Richard James Hills, amicus curiae
National Training Branch, DIAC
02 6225 6285

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