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Duration 35 hours
Course Outline
Day 1: Introduction to Legislative Drafting
Understanding Legislative Drafting
- The purpose and function of legislative drafting
- Factors contributing to effective legislation
- Core principles of quality legislative drafting
- Differences between legislative drafting and standard legal writing
- Identifying the intended audience and users of the legislation
- Converting policy objectives into legislative provisions
The Legislative Process
- Recognising the need for new legislation
- Policy development and its legal implementation
- Various stages within the legislative process
- The roles of policymakers, legal advisers, and legislative drafters
- Distinctions between primary and secondary/subordinate legislation
Structure of Legislation
- Titles and introductory clauses
- Organisation into parts, chapters, sections, and subsections
- Use of clauses, paragraphs, and subparagraphs
- Inclusion of schedules and annexes
- Definitions and interpretation clauses
Practical Exercise
- Analysing the structure of a sample statute
- Identifying the intent and function of various provisions
Day 2: Principles of Clear and Effective Legislative Language
Writing Clearly and Precisely
- Applying plain language principles in legislation
- Maintaining precision and consistency
- Eliminating ambiguity and uncertainty
- Selecting appropriate legal terminology
- Optimising sentence structure and drafting style
- Reducing unnecessary wording and complexity
Definitions and Interpretation
- Determining when definitions are necessary
- Drafting effective definition clauses
- Distinguishing between general and specific definitions
- Maintaining consistency in the application of defined terms
- Drafting interpretation provisions
Rights, Duties, Powers, and Prohibitions
- Drafting mandatory requirements
- Establishing rights and entitlements
- Granting powers and authorities
- Creating prohibitions and restrictions
- Appropriate use of modal verbs such as "shall", "may", and "must"
Practical Exercise
- Rewriting unclear or ambiguous legal provisions
- Drafting fundamental rights, duties, powers, and prohibitions
Day 3: Drafting Legislative Provisions
Drafting Substantive Provisions
- Establishing legal rules
- Setting conditions and requirements
- Creating procedures and processes
- Drafting exceptions and qualifications
- Handling discretion and administrative powers
Offences, Penalties, and Enforcement
- Basic principles for drafting offences
- Identifying prohibited conduct
- Drafting penalties and sanctions
- Incorporating enforcement provisions
- Preventing uncertainty in offence definitions
Administrative and Regulatory Provisions
- Appointments and responsibilities
- Licensing and approval provisions
- Regulatory powers
- Inspection and investigation authorities
- Appeals and review mechanisms
Practical Exercise
- Drafting legislative provisions based on a specific policy scenario
- Reviewing provisions for clarity, consistency, and legal effect
Day 4: Structuring, Reviewing, and Improving Legislation
Building a Legislative Framework
- Logical organisation of provisions
- Connecting related provisions
- Sequencing substantive and procedural rules
- Implementing cross-references between provisions
- Drafting schedules and supporting provisions
Consistency and Legal Coherence
- Ensuring consistent terminology usage
- Avoiding internal contradictions
- Verifying internal references
- Identifying gaps and unintended consequences
- Ensuring alignment with existing legislation
Reviewing and Editing Draft Legislation
- Technical review of legislative text
- Identifying ambiguity and uncertainty
- Checking grammar and legislative style
- Testing provisions against practical scenarios
- Incorporating comments and amendments
Practical Workshop
- Review of a sample legislative draft
- Identifying drafting issues
- Redrafting selected provisions
- Facilitator feedback and group discussion
Day 5: Practical Legislative Drafting Workshop
From Policy to Legislation
- Interpreting policy instructions
- Identifying relevant legal issues
- Determining the necessary legislative framework
- Translating policy objectives into legal rules
Drafting the Legislation
- Developing the overall structure
- Drafting key provisions
- Preparing definitions and interpretation clauses
- Drafting powers, duties, procedures, and enforcement provisions
- Reviewing the overall consistency of the draft
Final Legislative Drafting Exercise
Participants will engage with a realistic scenario that involves:
- Understanding the policy objective
- Identifying the required legal provisions
- Developing a legislative structure
- Drafting selected sections of the legislation
- Reviewing and refining the draft
- Presenting and discussing the proposed provisions
- Receiving facilitator feedback
Requirements
- Basic familiarity with legal concepts and terminology.
- Ability to read and interpret legal or regulatory documents.
- Sound written and verbal communication skills.
- An interest in legislation, regulation, legal policy, or government/legal operations.
- Previous experience in legal, compliance, regulatory, policy, or administrative settings is beneficial but not required.
Testimonials (2)
Fun to talk
Jihan Fadila - BAF
Course - Root Cause Analysis (RCA) for Internal Audit
Very practical. Trainer was very flexible in ensuring we meet our needs.
