Overview:
Good quality legislation is understandable and accessible. The capacity to stand back and to interrogate the written word is therefore one of the greatest qualities required of the drafter in turning policy into workable legislation.
This comprehensive programme encompasses the translating policy into legislation and the legislative drafter programmes allowing participants to be provided with the tools and techniques to enable them to gain a full understanding of what it takes to be a complete, effective and efficient legislative drafter.
You will be provided with the analytical skills required to convert policy into legislation and an understanding of the way legislation should be drafter and structured. Following on from this you will develop your practical skills and knowledge to put into effect the techniques introduced. You will become the 'model' drafter.
Learning objective
You will be able to:
- Support the legislative process by the more effective drafting of legislation
- Understand why legislation is structured in the way it is
- Quickly read and understand the effect of legislation
- Advise interested departments with greater confidence on the scope and effect of legislation
- Be more aware of the constitutionality of proposed legislation
- Includes a laptop computer
- Appreciate how legislation is created
- Understand the principles behind good policy making
- Understand the processes involved in analysing policy from a legislative drafter’s viewpoint
- Understand why legislation is structured and written in the standard form
- Work more efficiently with those whose task it is to formulate policy or to draft legislation
- Improve your ability to read and construe legislation
Course content
- What legislation is and how it differs from other forms of writing
- The stages of the legislative process
- The principles of good policy making
- The process of analysis of policy for the purposes of drafting legislation
- The principles of legislative expression
- The function of plain English
- The structure and format of legislative drafts
- Practical application of skills in oral and written exercises
- The function of legislation
- The role and responsibility of legislative counsel
- The basic elements of legislation
- Principles of legislative expression, legislative syntax, the function of plain language, structure and format of legislative drafts and correct uses of punctuation
- The use of definitions
- The value of the Interpretation Act
- The legislative plan
- Common difficulties encountered in drafting
- What drafting instructions should contain
- The process of amending legislation
- The contents, functions and consequences of
- Introductory material, preliminary provisions, repeal provisions, transitional and savings provisions and schedules
- The drafting of particular types of provisions
- Offences and penalties, delegated powers to legislate, retrospective and retroactive provisions and legislation having extra-territorial effect
- Types of subsidiary legislation
- Particular types of primary legislation (creating statutory authorities, licensing, taxation, implementing treaties)
- Statutory interpretation
- Constitutional constraints
- The purposes of law revision and law reform