Legal documents must follow certain principles to be clear, concise and avoid errors. 1) Use active voice to make sentences short and fix responsibility. 2) Avoid lengthy phrases and use concrete words. 3) Limit use of "shall" and instead use "must" for obligations and "will" for future actions. 4) Remove redundancies which make the document sound unprofessional. 5) Proofread to avoid errors in grammar, spelling or punctuation. 6) Use courteous, diplomatic language without assumptions about age, gender or other attributes. 7) Always cite facts to make the writing sincere.

1. Principles of Legal Drafting

2. Definition of Legal Draft
• Any written document that one prepares in
the course of his/her legal career, is known as
a draft.

3. Definition of Legal Draft
• Draft takes a lot of skill, care and revision to be
prepared.
• One has to ensure that the message is clear,
short, and does not contain any error.

4. Principles / Steps to follow
Active Voice
No Lengthy
phrases
Avoid over-use of
‘Shall’
Concrete words
No Redundancy
No errors
Courtesy
Use Citations

5. 1. Use active voice
This makes the sentences short, and easy to
understand.
The Doer / actor in the sentence becomes prominent.
Eg.:
Passive: The documents were verified by the drafter.
Active: The drafter verified the documents. 5 words
7 words
Doer / actor

6. Active Voice
Another good point about active voice is that, it
clearly fixes responsibility of the action.
Eg.:
Passive: The facts must be verified. [by whom?]
Active: The police must verify the facts.

7. Passive Voice Situations
When we need to highlight the receiver of the action.
Eg.:
Every 8 seconds, a kid is trafficked somewhere in India.
By whom? Unimportant.Receiver of
‘kidnapping’ = Kid
This data is Important

8. 2. No lengthy phrases
Eg.: I have given consideration to your proposal.
Correct: I have given consideration to your
proposal.
Workplaces must give recognition to the rights of transgender
people.
Workplaces must give recognition to the rights of transgender
people.
considered
recognize

9. 3. Use concrete words
Avoid vague adjectives and use concrete words.
Eg.: My client has suffered horrible injuries from
this event.
Correct: My client has suffered a fracture in his
ribs and deep wound in his shoulders because of
this event.

10. 4. No over-use of “Shall”
“Shall” creates confusion. Are we talking of a
future action, or an obligation?
Eg.:
We shall obey the law. [Moral Obligation]
If we try hard, we shall succeed. [Future event]
But if one interprets obeying law as ‘just any other, probable event of
future, then trouble will arise!!

11. 4. No over-use of “Shall”
In order to avoid that confusion, we use:
✓ “must” for legal obligation
✓ “will” for future action.
Eg.:
The governor shall leave the residential quarters provided to
him, after his service tenure.
The Governor shall invite the leader of the winning party to form
government. [future action]
must
will

12. 5. Avoid redundancies
Redundancies are same words used two-times.
In a legal document, presence of redundancy
makes you sound unprofessional.
Eg.: This notice is the last and final chance
given to you, to settle the dispute with my
client.

13. 6. Avoid errors
• Errors in grammar and spelling make a
negative impact on the mind of the reader.
They think you to be either careless, or
untrained.
• Errors in punctuation / usage of modifiers
create double-meaning in sentences. So, they
are to be avoided.

14. 7. Show courtesy:
Be diplomatic with words
• Legal drafting is required for any business: for
agreements; disclaimers; warranty; etc.
• We should not refer to our reader in terms of
specific age, gender, physical / mental condition,
economic status, etc.
• This proves that our stance is neutral towards any
client / consumer.

15. 1. There are separate reservation quotas for old people
and the physically handicapped.
2. Every MNREGA worker must show his ID card.
3.
7. Show courtesy:
Be diplomatic with words
Senior Citizens
Differently abled
His / her
Fireman Firefighter
Manhours Hours worked
Manpower Personnel, workforce

16. 8. Always give citation
• Citations help our reader to refer to the facts
presented in the document.
• This makes our writing a sincere work of
research.

17. Assignment Questions
1. Discuss the principles of Legal Drafting.
2. Discuss the uses of Legal brief.
3. Discuss the Format of a Legal brief /
summary.