Legislative Drafting

LEGISLATIVE DRAFTING

Course Dates

(1 Week) 6-10 March 2023

(2 Weeks) 6-7 March 2023

(6 Weeks) 6 March - 14 April 2023

(9 Weeks) 6 - 5 May 2023

Cost 

1 Week = $2245

2 Weeks = $4200

6 Weeks = $5000

9 Weeks = $8000

Location 

Online/in-person

Programme Overview 

Well-drafted legislation is fundamental to a country’s and region’s legal system and its overall economic development. Professionals who possess the skills to draft, interpret, and apply laws are essential to protecting democratic forms of government across the African continent. This intensive nine-week programme directs participants to achieve an intelligible and confident style of drafting and engages participants in the practical drafting of legislation.  It further hones participants’ skills in drafting amendments, interpreting statutes and appreciating the policy behind the drafting process. Using a multidisciplinary approach facilitated by key regional and international experts, participants gain hands-on experience in drafting legislation through individual and group exercises and research opportunities.

Programme Outline

LEGISLATIVE DRAFTING

• Legislative Drafting- An Assessment
•  Understanding Policy and Linking it to instruction for Legislation
• Regulatory Impact Assessment
• Five stages of drafting of legislation
• Functional view of legislation
• Approach to drafting and drafting Styles
• Legislative sentence and Legislative language
• Structure of Legislation
• Functional Interpretation of Legislation- Interpretation Cannons
• Parts of a Bill
• Amendments
• Subordinate Legislation
• Domestication of International Agreements
• Consolidation, Codification, Revision and Reform of Legislation

CONTEXT OF LEGISLATION

• Research
• Authority to draft – LAP
• Understanding and analyzing instructions
• Value additions

Functionality of Law

• Law as an Institution
• Sources of legislation
• The Function of legislation
• Hierarchy of Rules; and
• Efficacy, Impact and Measurement of Legislation.

Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA)

• What is a RIA
• Research, data and consultation
• Cost Benefit Analysis
• Model Cost Calculation- Standard Cost Calculator; and drawing up a RIA Report

COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONS

• The Constitution and Legislative Draftspersons
• Theorising Government and the Instrumentality of Governance
• Primacy of Legislation
• The Constitution and its major components
• Making of Constitutions –
  • The Need;
  • The Agenda;
  • Major players; and
  • Consultative process,
• The legitimisation process
• Constitutionalism and democracy
• Constitutionalism and the constitution
• Restraints on Government.

Faculty

• Dr Sanele Sibanda joined the Department of Jurisprudence, Faculty of Law at the University of Pretoria (UP) as a senior lecturer on 1 October 2020. Sibanda was a senior lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand for 18 years prior to joining UP Law. He holds a BA, LLB (Industrial Psychology and Public Administration) from the University of Cape Town, as well as an LLM PhD from the University of the Witwatersrand. Prior to joining the Wits Law School, Sibanda was a registered attorney of the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe and had his own practice at Advocate SKM Sibanda and Partners. His research interests include; constitutional law, post-independence constitutionalism; colonialism and imperialism, post-colonial theory, nationalism and decolonization; nation-building and state making.
• Krystal Brumfield works for the U.S General Services Administration in Washington, D.C. She is responsible for promulgating and carrying out high level, sensitive, government-wide policies and procedures and participates in strategic planning, organizational development, policy development, corporate performance plan preparation and review, budget and financial planning functions. Ms. Brumfield also worked for the US Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship where she steered the committee’s tax and contracting agenda by advancing laws that stimulate economic growth during recession. Among the laws she contributed to draft was the Small Business Contracting Fraud Prevention Act of 2011. She then worked with the D.C Chamber of Commerce as the Vice President and Chief Operating Officer before joining the Airport Minority Advisory Council as President and Chief Operations Officer and working with an aviation company. Ms. Brumfield has taught legislative drafting training programmes. She holds a Masters of Law with a concentration on taxation from the University of Florida and a Juris Doctor, cum laude from the Southern University Law Center. In 2019, she received the Hofstra University School of Law Outstanding Women in Law recognition.
• Lloyd Devincenzi is the Solicitor General of Gibraltar. Much of his professional work is at the intersection of law and public policy. Since mid-2016, he has led or advised on a number of post-Brexit projects, notably on international trade agreements and the implementation of international sanctions. Lloyd has made representations on behalf of HM Government of Gibraltar at several international fora, including Moneyval (Council of Europe grouping for the FATF). Lloyd has been drafting legislation since 2011. Born in Gibraltar and raised in Gibraltar and Canada, Lloyd holds common law and civil law degrees from McGill University and a master’s degree in law from University College London. He also holds a post-graduate diploma in EU competition law from King’s College London. Lloyd has a personal and professional interest in political theory and international relations and holds a graduate diploma in international relations from the London School of Economics and an undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Alberta. Lloyd is admitted to practice in England and Wales, Gibraltar and New York.