Cobblers: lawyers’ views on the quality of legislation

This article explores the question of whether there are any characteristic features of the way law is made in the UK that lead to problems of legislative quality on the basis of a survey of 559 legal professionals including practising barristers and solicitors as well as academics. The article begins by discussing how 'quality' is to be understood and outlining the nature of the survey. It goes on to set out how respondents characterize problems of quality in the legislation they are familiar with, what the consequences of any defects might be, what causes these defects, and what can be done to remedy them. The article goes on to discuss some of the broader implications of the results of the survey drawing on the observations of Sir William Dale.