lawthat

Lawthat is a term used in legal linguistics and theory to describe a class of legal statements that are expressed through clauses introduced by the relative pronoun that in statutory and regulatory texts. In this sense, a lawthat refers to the formal rule or obligation defined by a specific that-clause, for example: “the law that requires employers to provide notice.” The concept is not a distinct statute, but a way to analyze how the language of a law shapes its interpretation and application.

Etymology and scope: Lawthat emerges from examining how legal obligations are framed within sentences that specify conditions, permissions, or prohibitions via that-clauses. Scholars use the term to discuss the relationship between the main legal command and its accompanying qualifications, exceptions, or operational details. It highlights the syntactic and semantic structure that can influence enforcement, compliance, and clarity.

Applications and relevance: The notion aids statutory drafting, contract design, and automated compliance systems by clarifying how precise the that-clause must be to avoid ambiguity. In computational law and AI governance, lawthat analysis supports the encoding of rules into machine-readable formats, ensuring that the intended obligation and its scope are captured accurately.

Examples: A lawthat might be stated as “the law that requires data controllers to notify individuals of a breach within 72 hours” or “the law that prohibits collecting personal data without informed consent.” Such formulations illustrate how the that-clause defines the duty and its boundaries.

See also: statutory interpretation, legal linguistics, computational law. Further reading on that-clause semantics in legal texts provides more detail on how lawthat structures affect enforcement and compliance.