A Manual for Drafters
The premier resource for developing legislation.
In their comprehensive work Legislative Drafting for Democratic Social Change: A Manual for Drafters (Kluwer Law International, London 2000), ICLAD founders Robert Seidman, J.D., and Ann Seidman, Ph.D., join co-author Nalin Abeysekere, Legal Draftsman of Sri Lanka for two decades, to lay out strategies and practical techniques for developing and designing legislation.
A guide to evidence-based lawmaking.
The Manual for Drafters covers three principal tasks: gathering essential information and writing a research report to demonstrate that, in the country's unique conditions, the proposed solution will likely work; designing the draft law's detailed provisions; and drafting to enhance the rule of law.
An approach used around the world.
The Manual, first written in English, has been translated into many languages, including Arabic, Bahassa Indonesia, Chinese, Macedonian, Russian, Sinhalese, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese.
It has been hailed as the "best book for use in assisting transitional or post-conflict countries in legislative change"
(http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itdhr/0302/ijde/0302bib.htm).
To order, email rseidman@bu.edu or contact us. To purchase the English Manual by mail, send your mailing address and a check, payable to the International Consortium for Law and Development, for 30 USD.
Download the Manual for Drafters in Arabic at no charge.
Assessing Legislation
An introduction to legislative problem-solving.
Assessing Legislation: A Manual for Legislators shows legislators, their aides, and parliamentary staff--even if they have no previous training in legislation--how to read and to assess a draft law in terms of the public interest. This introductory guide focuses on the role of rational argument, grounded in facts and logic.
We offer this basic resource for those concerned with ensuring enactment of legislation to facilitate good governance and effective development. You may download this booklet at no charge.
You may print and distribute as many copies of this manual as you wish, either for your own use, or for participants in workshops focused on assessing legislation.
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Other Resources
Using law to improve birth registration rates.
In this draft Resource Book on using law to improve civil registration (specifically, rates of birth registration), users of ICLAD's problem-solving method consider various aspects of the problem and propose possible solutions.
Download the Resource Book now, and contact us with comments on how to improve this draft.
Facilitating workshops on legislative change.
This Facilitator's Guide provides instructions for facilitators and a sample daily schedule for a two-week workshop focused on learning-by-doing for ministry and parliamentary staff and non-government organization personnel.
In this sample introductory workshop, participants would engage in drafting real bills, accompanied by research reports to demonstrate that their detailed provisions will likely to help resolve real social problems in their own country. In that process, the participants would begin to learn legislative problem-solving theory, methodology, and techniques necessary to draft legislation effectively implemented.
Download the Facilitators' Guide now, and contact us to discuss how we can customize a program that fits the specific needs of participants in your learning program.
Contact
us for more information and resources.