23 Definitions

'Definitions' have the function of suggestions for the development of a uniform European legal terminology. Some particularly important concepts are defined for these purposes at the outset in Book I. For other defined terms DCFR I. — 1:108 provides that 'The definitions in the Annex apply for all the purposes of these rules unless the context otherwise requires.' This expressly incorporates the list of terminology in the Annex as part of the DCFR. This drafting technique, by which the definitions are set out in an appendage to the main text, was chosen in order to keep the first chapter short and to enable the list of terminology to be extended at any time without great editorial labour. The substance is partly distilled from the acquis, but predominantly derived from the model rules of the DCFR. If the definitions are essential for the model rules, it is also true that the model rules are essential for the definitions. There would be little value in a set of definitions which was internally incoherent. The definitions can be seen as components which can be used in the making of rules and sets of rules, but there is no point in having components which are incompatible with each other and cannot fit together. In contrast to a dictionary of terms assembled from disparate sources, the definitions in the Annex have been tested in the model rules and revised and refined as the model rules have developed. Ultimately, useful definitions cannot be composed without model rules and useful model rules can hardly be drafted without definitions.