Legislative Drafting, UNDP, Liberia
This training programme was designed to meet the needs of 21 participants from the national legislature and government agencies in Liberia, including the Ministry of Justice, Legal Counsel, Law Reform Commission and also UN personnel.
Held during December 2009, at the Liberian Institute of Public Management, the two-week programme included most of the fundamental elements of legislative drafting and provided opportunities for the participants to put the lessons learnt into practice by means of class and written exercises.
The programme was split into two core areas. The first focus was on improving the legislative drafting skills of the participants.
Areas of study included:
- The role and responsibility of the legislative counsel
- Basic elements of legislation, including the principles of legislative expression, legislative syntax, the function of plain language, the structure and format of legislative drafts and correct uses of punctuation
- The legislative plan, covering the provisions which need to be included in statutes
The second area looked at problems of interpretation which affect those tasked with drafting legislation, including the precise use of words commonly employed in legislation and penal provisions.
The programme helped participants to understand why legislation is structured the way it and to support the legislative process by drafting more effective legislation.