1.          COURSE SNOPSIS

This programme in Legislative Drafting is designed to empower government legislative drafters, compliance officers, drafting consultants  in private practice as well as the drafters of rules and regulations for other  organs of state and parastatal bodies to produce clear, effective and implementable legislation and directives which comply with the requirements of the supreme Constitution (based on the Commonwealth system of legislativedrafting).

2.          WHO SHOULD ATTEND

All legislative drafters in all spheres of government, regional, continental and multilateral political and trading blocks, compliance officers, drafting consultants in private practice, and the drafters of rules and regulations  for other organs of state and parastatal bodies

3.          LEARNING OUTCOMES

After completion of this course, participants should be able to:

• Translate policy guidelines into new primary and secondary legislation;
• Amend existing legislation;
• Draft new legislation (both original and delegated), and amend existing legislation (including old-order legislation) against the background of the supreme Constitution and the
• vast array of existing law (including common law and customary law).
• Draft new legislation within the framework of the constitution as well as other existing
• describe the nature of legislative drafting in the parliamentary tradition and how that traditiondeveloped;
• explain the duties and responsibilities of legislative counsel;

• present an overall picture of why legislative texts take the form they do;
• use the correct expressions to describe the main features of English grammar;
• apply the basic principles of legislative syntax and expression for writing legislative sentences;
• comply with standard drafting conventions when punctuating legislative sentences;
• compose simple legislative sentences that are unambiguous and free from common errors of expression;
• convert simple instructions into legislative sentences that are comprehensive and clear;
• apply a range of stylistic devices in composing legislation that will contribute to its effectiveness and

4.          WHAT SKILLS SET WILL BE ACQUIRED?

This Course aims to help lawyers with Legal Drafting skills. Specifically, the course should help you hone the following skills:

• Analyzing and conceptualizing legal
• Organizing strategies (outlining, decision trees, cluster diagrams).
• Structuring legal arguments and documents (macro & micro structure).
• Using core writing techniques, including clarity, cohesion,

concision, and Plain English concerns.

• Writing strong introductions and
• Mastering objective v. persuasive
• Using new editing
• Sharpening efficient writing and editing skills using timed

5.          COURSE CONTENT:

The topics that are covered in the course include:

MODULE 1: THE BASICS

Section 1: What is legislative drafting all about?

1. Drafting and legislative Counsel
2. Legislative expression

Section 2: What is legislation?

1. Types of legislation
2. Classification of primary legislation (Bills and Acts)
3. Structure and format of Bills and Acts
4. Conventional arrangement structure of Bills and Acts

Section 3: Why do we draft as we do in parliamentary systems?

1. Historical development of legislative drafting
2. Theoretical foundations of this form of drafting
3. Principal characteristics of this form of drafting
4. Drafting objectives

MODULE 2: WRITING LEGISLATIVE SENTENCES

Section 1: What do we need to know about grammar?

1. Why is grammar important for drafting?
2. What grammatical terms do we need to know?
3. What common grammatical mistakes should we watch for?

Section 2: What are the basics of writing legislative sentences?

1. Starting to write
2. Basic components of legistlative sentences
3. Types of legislative sentences

Section 3: How do we put together the components of legislative sentences?

1. Principal Subject
2. Principal Predicate
3. Predicate modifiers

Section 4: How do we punctuate and capitalise legislation?

1. Punctuation
2. Capitalisation

Section 5: What can go wrong in legislative expression?

1. Subjects
2. Verbs
3. Modifiers

MODULE 3: LEGISLATIVE DRAFTING I AND II

Section 1: Drafting a Simple Bill

• Learning to convert a legislative proposal into a bill for introduction in a legislative chamber

Section 2: Drafting Amendments to a Bill and to Law

• Committee “markup” amendments
• “Floor” (whole House) amendments
• Amendments to existing law

Section 3: Instruction on Specialized Legislative Processes

• Working with legislative committees
• Budget and appropriations rules and problems
• Participating in a mock committee markup session

Section 4: Drafting a Government Grant Program

• Instruction in selection and drafting of legislative language authorizing grants

Section 5: Drafting Government Reorganization

• Establishing a Government Agency
• Abolishing a Government Agency
• Consolidating Government Agencies
• Savings (“grandfather”) clauses
• Transition provisions
• Repeals

Section 6: Drafting a Complex Bill

• Organization of Legislative Provisions
• Close Supervision and Review of Drafting Work
• The legislative process: the constitutional framework
• The conventional approach to the drafting of legislation
• Analysis and structure of original legislation
• Analysis and structure of amending legislation
• Principles of drafting
• “Cleaning-up” of legislation

• From better legislative drafting to more efficient statutory interpretation: a practical guide
• Drafting of subordinate legislation
• Drafting of local government legislation (municipal bylaws)
• The influence of the basic principles of administrative law on legislative drafting
• Role of legislative drafters
• Public law considerations in drafting
• Statutory interpretation and its relevance to drafting
• Key tools for drafters
• Cabinet and legislative processes
• Audience considerations and language usage
• Legal writing
• Legislative drafting
• Ancillary skills
• The constraints of legislative drafters in modern democracies
• Ethics and legislative drafting
• Quality in legislation
• Drafting instructions
• Statutory Interpretation and drafting
• Developing a Legislative Plan
• The Structure and Style of Statutes
• Schedules
• Challenging legislation before the courts
• The application and enforcement of legislation

Section 7: Drafting Documents

• Drafting of Affidavits
• Drafting of Notices
• Drafting and Review of Contracts
• Drafting under Company Law
• Drafting of Judgments

FOR REGISTRATION AND INQUIRIES, CONTACT:

The Admission Director

AFRICA INSTITUTE FOR CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT (AICD)

HEAD OFFICE:

21 Detroit Plaza |Pretoria Road|Kempton Park|

Gauteng. SOUTH AFRICA

Telephone : +27 733797377

Whatsapp Number : +27 733797377

Email:info@aicdtraining.com

https://aicdtraining.com/

OUR SERVICES:

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IN PARTNERSHIP WITH:

SADC Institute of Commerce and Industrial Practice
Gauteng. SOUTH AFRICA