Sind die Wörter “in der jeweiligen Fassung” bei einem Gesetz notwendig (auf Englisch)?
Corp Law Blog has another interesting entry on language. The question is: If you quote a statute ‘as amended’, what do the words ‘as amended’ add?
And how do you interpret Section 1 of the Securities Act of 1933, which tells us that the short title of the Securities Act of 1933 is the “Securities Act of 1933” (no reference to “as amended”)?
The comments are interesting too – and even Sydney Carton contributed.
The question is whether a short title means the statute at the date of a contract, for example, or the statute in all its subsequent amendments.
Robert Schwartz’s comment ends:
Clients just hate hearing lawyers argue about shit like that at $500 @ hr. Another reason I have forbiden my children from going to law school.
Have you noticed that secretaries often corect the title of the Act to The Securities Act of 1993?
And Gary comments, inter alia:
It is interesting to note that most “sophisticated” transaction documents have a lengthy section of defined terms but they often give short shrift to rules of construction. In particularly complex transactions, I include the following within a section containing rules of construction:
“Any reference to any federal, state, local, or foreign statute or law includes (1) all rules and regulations promulgated thereunder and (2) such statute or law as amended, modified or supplemented from time to time (including any successor statute or law).”