semicolon

[Allen165]

Would you say it's correct to use semicolons instead of commas in the sentence below?

He submitted, among other things, that the Commission had made an error of assessment with regard to the amended Regulations in taking the view that the most restrictive provisions of the Regulations of 20 May 1994 had been abolished; that the requirement of a licence for the exercise of the occupation of player agent constituted an obstacle to the freedom to provide services and could not be exempted under Article 81(3) EC; and that Article 82 EC was applicable because FIFA held a dominant position on the “football market” and was abusing it on the related market of services provided by players’ agents.

Thanks a lot.

 

[RonBee]

No, I don't think so. I suggest using a comma instead.

 

[Barb_D]

I'd suggest using a bulleted list!

 

[Allen165]

I'd suggest using a bulleted list!

Thanks for the suggestion, but I don't think bullets belong in a legal paper.

The reason I thought I could use a semicolon is that the sentence is very long, and I wanted to identify each of the submissions more clearly.

Thanks.

 

[Barb_D]

In that case, certainly the comma is correct. A semi-colon isn't used just because the elements in the list are long, but it would be used if any of the elements within that list had its own embedded comma.

 

[Abstract Idea]

----- I am not an English teacher -----

Would you say it's correct to use semicolons instead of commas in the sentence below?

He submitted, among other things, that the Commission had made an error of assessment with regard to the amended Regulations in taking the view that the most restrictive provisions of the Regulations of 20 May 1994 had been abolished; that the requirement of a licence for the exercise of the occupation of player agent constituted an obstacle to the freedom to provide services and could not be exempted under Article 81(3) EC; and that Article 82 EC was applicable because FIFA held a dominant position on the “football market” and was abusing it on the related market of services provided by players’ agents.

Thanks a lot.

What about

He submitted that, among other things, (i) the Commission had made an error of assessment with regard to the amended Regulations in taking the view that the most restrictive provisions of the Regulations of 20 May 1994 had been abolished, (ii) the requirement of a licence for the exercise of the occupation of player agent constituted an obstacle to the freedom to provide services and could not be exempted under Article 81(3) EC, and (iii) Article 82 EC was applicable because FIFA held a dominant position on the “football market” and was abusing it on the related market of services provided by players’ agents.

or

Among other things, he submitted that: (i) the Commission had made an error of assessment with regard to the amended Regulations in taking the view that the most restrictive provisions of the Regulations of 20 May 1994 had been abolished, (ii) the requirement of a licence for the exercise of the occupation of player agent constituted an obstacle to the freedom to provide services and could not be exempted under Article 81(3) EC, and (iii) Article 82 EC was applicable because FIFA held a dominant position on the “football market” and was abusing it on the related market of services provided by players’ agents.

 

[Allen165]

In that case, certainly the comma is correct. A semi-colon isn't used just because the elements in the list are long, but it would be used if any of the elements within that list had its own embedded comma.

Here's a sentence I found in a book:

"But because he employed a corporation, he may be liable for four punishments: (1) for his own crime; (2) for the corporation's crime; (3) for conspiring with the corporation; and (4) for the corporation's conspiring with him."

So you would say that the sentence as such is ungrammatical and that the semicolons should be replaced with commas?

Thanks.

 

[Barb_D]

I would say that it follows a style that I do not follow, that I would not write it that way, and that it doesn't follow my company's style so my editor would change those semi-colons to commas if I did write it that way.

I would not say it was ungrammatical. That author may follow another style guide.