This document discusses continuous improvement in legislative drafting. It describes legislative drafting as fitting into the work of government and notes different approaches used in countries like the US and Balkan states. Key characteristics of good quality primary and secondary legislation are outlined, including being underpinned by clear principles and having a coherent style. Recent efforts by organizations like the OECD and EU to improve legislative drafting are also summarized, such as recommendations, member state activities, policies and tools to assess regulations. Ways to enhance the quality of drafting through separation of policy and drafting, guidelines, training, and reviews are presented.

1. © OECD
AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU
The Challenge of Continuous Improvement in
Legislative Drafting
Edward Donelan, SIGMA
Monday 26 May 2014, Hotel Podgorica
Building Capacities for Legislative
Drafting:

2. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU Where legislative drafting fits into the work
of government
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3. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU
Different Approaches to Legislative Drafting cl, cv l USA, Balkans
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4. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU
Characteristics of good quality
legislation: primary and secondary
 Underpinned by a clear set of principles
 Coherent style set out in a Guide
 Well written (because and despite of the characteristics
of legal language)
 Predictable uses of techniques and structures, for
example,
 Substantive provisions
 Adjectival provisions
 Amendments
 Repeals
 Commencement and transitional provisions
 Accessible 3

5. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU
Recent efforts to meet the challenge of Continuous
Improvement in Legislative Drafting
 OECD
 Council Recommendations
 Member country activities
 EU
 Member States
 Institutions of the EU
 Policies
 Tools
 Regulatory Impact Assessment
 Consultation
 Simplification
 Institutions 4

6. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU How to improve the quality of drafting
 Clear separation of policy formulation and
legislative drafting
 Guidelines, training and continuity of
personnel
 Accessible legislation
 Regular reviews
 Consolidation
 Good understanding by drafters of steps in
drafting:
 Analysis
 Design
 Composition
 Review 5

7. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU
How to build capacities in regulatory management so as
to improve legislation
 Slowly
 A good review of the current situation is a good start
 Identify a group of experts and encourage them to
consolidate their collective knowledge in a guide that
should be widely consulted and updated regularly
 Develop training courses built on the Guide
 Critical success factors:
 Political support (experience of PA interesting),
Administrative continuity
 Link drafting with wider goal of policy making and
Public Administration Reform. It should not be an
afterthought
 Manage the stock of legislation and make it
accessible
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8. AjointinitiativeoftheOECDandtheEuropeanUnion,
principallyfinancedbytheEU
What was all that about?
 How to judge the quality of legislation?
 How to judge the legislative process?
 What are the different approaches to legislative
drafting in the world?
 What is involved in drafting legislation?
 Recent efforts OECD and EU to bring about
continuous improvements in legislative drafting
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