A design that technically violates a law, but is not actually dangerous - suppose the law constrains designs in a way that requires them to be less effective or safe - is not necessarily a poor design, unless "complies with law" is a higher priority design objective than "functions safely as intended".
Not to be too flippant, but "complies with law" sort of seems like a requirement for non-government services too. But I may be reading this too broadly?