noun
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.
この新しい規制はザル法だと言われている。
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.
Compound of ザル (colander, sieve) and 法 (law), from the image of a law that cannot hold anything, like a sieve.