Modern Logic as a Tool for Remedying Ambiguities in Legal Documents and Analyzing the Structure of Legal Documents’ Contained Definitions

Abstract

There are three forms of indeterminacy in legal documents (statutes, constitutions, regulations, contracts, briefs, forms and other): (1) ambiguity , (2) scope of reference , and (3) vagueness . The first two, ambiguity and scope of reference indeterminacies, can be avoided – and should be. The third, vagueness , is inevitable, but its scope can be managed. For example, “giving notice” can be required in 24 hours, 30 days, one year or in a timely fashion. The solution of the drafters, for example, of the Uniform Commercial Code (of the United States) was “seasonable notice”. So, sometimes deliberate vagueness is the course of wisdom and preferred choice.The First Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article 9-608 of the Uniform Commercial Code contain various ambiguities and indefiniteness in scope of reference that are analyzed here in detail along with our proposed resolutions.