almost always desirable where it consists partly of the statement of a fact and partly of an act to be done. This will appear from the following example, in which the case is shown in italics, the statutory declaration in ordinary type. 66 "Where any church was in use at the time of Irish Church "the passing of this Act, and no application in respect thereof is made by the said representative body of the said church within the said pre"scribed period, and such church was erected at "the private expense of any person, the Commis"sioners shall, on the application of the person "who erected such church, if alive, or of his "representatives if he died since the year one "thousand eight hundred, by order vest such "church in the applicant or applicants, or in such 66 person or persons as he or they may direct." Act, 1869, 32 & 33 Vict. c. 42, s. 25, sub-s. 3. STATING The law frequently confers a benefit or imposes 25. MODE OF an obligation on certain conditions; a condition is CONDITIONS. aptly introduced by "If, &c.," or (where it follows a negative sentence) by "unless" or "until." Case. Condition. Statutory declaration. 66 Where any person is convicted of "an offence "if he has given notice at the prescribed "he may appeal from such conviction, Where the conditions are numerous it is best 32 & 33 Vict. (as has been before remarked with respect to the K c. 42, s. 34. case) to state them in separate subordinate sen tences. Statutory declaration. "time after the first of January one "thousand eight hundred and seventy"one sell by public auction or private "contract, or otherwise convert into 66 money, any real or personal property "vested in them by this Act, 66 Conditions. subject to the other provisions of this Case. Statutory declaration. 66 66 "(6) Notice shall be given to, &c. "Where any person is authorised by 'any Act of Parliament passed after "the commencement of this Act to appeal from the decision of a court of summary jurisdiction to a court of general or quarter sessions, he may appeal to such court, 66 Another mode of stating the conditions in the last-mentioned example would be to substitute for the words "subject to the conditions and regula"tions following" the words "but no appeal shall "be entertained unless the following conditions "and regulations have been complied with." The greatest caution must, however, be used in putting a sentence in a negative form, as it makes the performance of the conditions a matter of absolute necessity, and the omission of the smallest portion of them will render the appeal altogether nugatory. On the other hand, if the affirmative expression only be used, the court will consider the enactment as to the conditions directory, and dispense with them on due cause being shown for their omission. c. 36. An example of very complicated cases with a 38 & 39 Vict. condition, attached to the later but not to the earlier statutory declaration, may be found in the Artisans and Labourers Dwellings Improvement 26. MODE OF Act, 1875, sect. 3. STATING EX CEPTIONS. The word "except" may generally be used in introducing exceptions, but care must be taken to avoid its use where it is likely to lead to ambiguity. This is illustrated by the fourteenth section of the Irish Church Bill as brought in. That section was as follows: 66 "The Commissioners shall, as soon as may be after the passing of this Act, "ascertain and declare by order the "amount of yearly income of which the "holder of any archbishopric, bishopric, 'benefice, or cathedral preferment in "or connected with the said Church "will be deprived by virtue of this Act, "after deducting all rates and taxes, except income or property tax, salaries 'of permanent curates employed as "herein-after mentioned, payments to diocesan schoolmasters, and other out'goings to which such holder is liable "by law." 66 66 In the above example it will be perceived that it was intended only to except income or property tax, but as the sentence is worded it may reasonably be argued that all the substantives that follow the word "except" are excepted. The sentence should run as follows: "After deducting all rates and taxes, "salaries to permanent curates em"ployed as herein-after mentioned, pay 66 ments to diocesan schoolmasters, and "other outgoings to which such holder "is liable by law, but not deducting "income or property tax." Where exceptions are numerous they should (as in the instances of numerous cases and numerous conditions) be placed in separate members of the section or even in a separate section. Where the enumeration of the exception is short, compared with the enumeration of the particulars not excepted, it is often convenient to state the exceptions first. Illustrations of this may be found in the fifteenth and thirty-first sections of the Bank- 32 & 33 Vict. ruptcy Act, 1869. Exception 1. Exception 2. "The property of the bankrupt "divisible amongst his creditors, and in this Act referred to as the property "of the bankrupt, shall not comprise "the following particulars: c. 71. s. 15. |