Week 16

Lesson objectives for this week

This week we are concerned with drafting the kinds of rules that were described earlier in the course as rules addressed to the officials who keep the corpus of the law in order. These “formal” provisions help ensure coherence and consistency in the law.

Incoherence and inconsistency in the law result from a variety of a factors including:

the want of an overall structure of a country’s laws,
uncertainty about which laws are in force,
inconsistent laws, and
a lack of clarity about the processes of transition from old law to new law.

Careful attention to drafting a bill’s formal provisions can help overcome these factors. This session considers the following topics: the methods of organizing a country’s body of law; clauses specifying when and where a bill will apply; amendment and repeal provisions; and transitional clauses.

Assignments

Read Manual, Part III, Chapter 13 (pp. 319-340).
Listen to tape B-14, do exercises in Stream B Study Guide, and email your responses to the course participants.
E-mail the provisions of your bill that ensure transparency, accountability, and participation in official decision-making to the course participants.
Discuss with your group the issues raised.
Revise your “formal” provisions in light of this week’s B-Stream materials, and email the revised provisions to the course participants.
Optional: E-mail to the course participants your comments, questions, or suggestions relating to issues raised.

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Distance Course on Legislative Drafting for Democratic Social Change

Week 16