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Style and grammar in WA proposals
If you are reading this you may or may not be aware that I have strong views regarding grammar in WA proposals. For easy reference these strong views are enumerated in this dispatch.The key words "must", "must not", "required", "shall", "shall not", "should", "should not", "recommended", "may", and "optional" in this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119.
UN Style
UN style takes the form of a series of present participle ("introductory") clauses (eg "Recognising that ...") followed by one or more operative clauses. Such operative clauses may consist of a line such as "Hereby repeals GA #XXX" or "Hereby enacts as follows", or a series of mandates themselves (eg "Prohibits ...", "Declares ...", "Requires ..."). If an operative clause introduces a passage written in statute style, the following prescriptions do not apply to that passage; instead refer to statute style prescriptions. Likewise, lists are covered later in this guide.
To be grammatical, a passage in UN style must follow these conventions:
The subject of the sentence, typically the name of the chamber, must be stated once, either preceding the first operative clause (eg "The World Assembly hereby ...") or at the start of the sentence ("The World Assembly, // Believing that ..."). It must not be repeated within the sentence (eg "The World Assembly, // Concerned that ... // The World Assembly hereby ..."), unless that is in a role other than as the subject of the sentence (eg "Recognising that the World Assembly has previously ...").
Unless prescribed otherwise in this guide, every clause must end with either a semicolon (;) or a comma (,). Full stops (.) must be omitted outside of quotations. The following exceptions apply:
The last operative clause must end with a full stop, subject to 2b.
If a clause is introducing a list, it may end with a colon (:) or no punctuation.
The conjunction "and" must be present between the penultimate and final introductory clauses. It may be inserted after the usual punctuation, in which case there should be no further punctuation after it. For example: "The World Assembly; // Noting that this is a resolution; // Recognising that it is in UN style; and // Seeking to follow grammatical conventions; // Hereby enacts this."
Likewise, if the passage has more than one operative clause, the conjunction "and" must be present between the penultimate and final operative clause. It may be inserted after the usual punctuation, in which case there should be no further punctuation after it.
A passage written in UN style should only contain one operative clause. If further operative clauses are needed, they should be written in statute style, with UN style used only for the preamble. This makes writing substantially easier but is not strictly a grammatical requirement.
Statute Style
Statute style consists of a series of independent sentences. It is typically used in lists; for example, Convention on Marine Wildlife Strikes uses statute style for its operative clauses. Repeal "Whistleblower Protection Act" is an example of a repeal written in statute style.
Statute style is arguably the most natural format for writing, and provides a significant degree of freedom to the author. When writing in statute style, ensure that every sentence in the passage is complete. As statute style generally follows a UN style preamble, UN style should not be reintroduced after the introduction of statute style. Avoid restatements of policy in partial UN style (see eg the last clause in Crime Victims' Rights Act as an example of this).
Clauses in statute style should be formatted as a list.
Lists
Lists are a way to organise text by placing a combination of numbers, symbols and line breaks inside the text. A list must be grammatically coherent when those numbers, symbols and line breaks are removed. This includes following any relevant conventions for UN or statute style. Formatting UN style operative clauses in a list (as in eg Prohibition of Coerced Testimony) is fine and often beneficial for clarity, but the text is still in UN style. Likewise, formatting whole sentences in a list is recommended practice in statute style.
A list should not repeat the same word at the start of every item ("Every member nation must (a) prohibit Subway restaurants, and (b) prohibit American spelling"). Instead, that word should be moved to the end of the list introduction ("Every member nation must prohibit (a) Subway restaurants and (b) American spelling").
If the list forms part of one sentence, then a conjunction such as "or" or "and" should be present between the penultimate and final list items, similar to the convention in UN style. For example, "Colours of the rainbow include (a) yellow, (b) green and (c) blue".
As to whether to use Arabic numerals, Roman numerals, the alphabet, or bullet points in lists, consider the following as a recommendation:
For operative clauses, use Arabic numerals for the main list, lowercase alphabetical for a sublist, and lowercase Roman for a sub-sublist. Do not nest further lists within a sub-sublist.
Inline lists should use either lowercase alphabetical or lowercase Roman.
Operative clauses (UN style or otherwise) should be formatted as a list if the proposal has more than one of them. Otherwise, do not format UN style clauses as a list.
Avoid bullet points outside of preambles and repeals.
Avoid lists with only one item. Instead, merge that item into the parent clause or an existing list.
Miscellaneous
The following recommendations are miscellaneous style preferences.
Do not define terms whose meanings are obvious or which are not used in the resolution outside the definition. Likewise, do not define a term which is only used once in the resolution, unless not including the definition would reduce clarity.
[possibly to be expanded]
Further Reading
Other guides by Imperium Anglorum on formatting in GA resolutions can be found below: