User:Kaihsu/DraftB4

Legislation and statutory interpretation.

Module B: Making legislation.

Chapter 4: The drafting process.

Stages

 * 1) understanding [the instructions; mischief and defect to remedy]
 * 2) analysis
 * 3) design
 * 4) composition and development
 * 5) scrutiny and testing

Understanding
The instructions should set out what the legislation is to achieve, why, and how:
 * background information: the nature of the problem
 * purpose of the proposed legislation
 * means by which the purposes are to be achieved
 * impact of the proposals on existing circumstances and law.

Analysis

 * existing law
 * special areas of responsibility
 * practicality

Design
Think about structure.

Composition and development
Resources and techniques: precedents from other jurisdictions, referential legislation.

Think about definitions, purpose statements, supplementary aids, explanatory notes.

A definition can be delimiting, narrowing, extending; or labelling.

Scrutiny and testing

 * Does the draft achieve all those objects that the drafter believes to be the intended objects of the proposal?
 * Does the draft fit harmoniously into the general body of the law?
 * Does the law comply with basic principles of the legal and constitutional system?
 * Does the draft form a coherent well-structured whole and does the material flow in logical sequence?
 * Are the content and the language of the draft as clear and comprehensible as the drafter can make them?