law full of loopholes; toothless law
Colloquial, often critical term for a law or regulation that is easily circumvented or ineffective, like a colander that cannot hold water.
This new regulation is said to be a toothless law.
抜け穴だらけのザル法では、実効性が期待できない。
A law full of loopholes like a colander can't be expected to be effective.
Standard spelling using katakana ザル (colander) and kanji 法 (law).
Hiragana variant of the same compound.
Uses the rare kanji 笊 for 'colander'; seldom seen in modern writing.
Compound of ザル (colander, sieve) and 法 (law), from the image of a law that cannot hold anything, like a sieve.