International Post-Graduate Diploma in Legislative Drafting -IPGDLD Introduction Welcome to the International Post-Graduate Diploma in Legislative Drafting. The International Post Graduate Diploma in Legislative Drafting is an innovative blended learning programme with the flexibility that allows participants the option of online learning and classroom delivery. The International Post Graduate Diploma in Legislative Drafting offers an in-depth analysis of the principles and techniques of legislative drafting applied in the drafting of international legislation, treaties, national legislation and regulations within common law, civil law, Islamic law, Customary law and European Union jurisdictions. Compared to other Diploma in Legislative Drafting programs offered by others, the outstanding and distinct advantage of the IPGDLD program is that is designed to teach the modern international best practices in legislative drafting that is derived from commonalities among the different jurisdictions of the world. These modern standards and best practices in legislative drafting (such as legislative impact analysis, regulatory impact analysis-ria) are often the models applied and recognised by the United Nations, the EU and other international governmental organisations. In addition, to its modern, international focus, there are two distinct advantages of the IPGDLD namely the law reform component and the regional legislative drafting practice. The law reform component of the course is designed to equip participants with the knowledge and skills for undertaking law review, law reform and consolidation of laws projects. The regional legislative drafting practice focus means that this program is tailored to suit the prevalent legislative drafting practice of each participant s country or origin and jurisdiction. Thus for example a participant from Albania, for instance will be equipped with the knowledge and skills required for the approximation of the national legislation with the legislation of the European Union (EU), which is undoubtedly one of the basic criteria of the membership of an aspirant country in the European Union. The core of this process constitutes the adoption of the European legislation, acquis of the EU (aqcuis communautaire) 1 in the domestic legal system. 1 The acquis communautarire refers the legal corps of the EU, which is composed of primary legislation (Treaties) and secondary legislation (regulations, directive etc), as well as the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union which is able to interpret European Union law. The term acquis communautaire will be used as result of the legal acts of that time.
The program will provide you with thorough knowledge of the identifying elements of quality legislation, the principles and methods for undertaking legislative impact assessments, regulatory impact analysis (RIA), ante and post ante scrutiny of legislation just to mention a few. The program is designed to provide participants with a thorough instruction in sound and up-to-date legislative drafting practice as well as gaining and enhancing participants knowledge and skills in this highly specialised area and to undertake diverse and challenging legislative drafting responsibilities with proficiency and confidence. TARGET AUDIENCE The program will be of interest to lawyers and other professionals whose work involves writing laws, treaties, bye-laws, policies or similar legal documents. This includes the lawyers in the law reform agencies and legislative drafting Departments of the UN, EU and the legislatures of different countries in the different jurisdictions. The Program The IPGDLD is pioneered by the International Association of Legislative Drafting and Law Reform Lawyers (IALDLARL), London, U.K., a leading international organisation and the qualification is recognised worldwide. It is designed to serve the needs of participants, whether you are Hoping to enter a career in legislative drafting Early in a legislative drafting career A seasoned professional wishing to enhance or refresh your skills The program consists of five courses, each designed to be completed within two months. If you take one course at a time and complete each in two months (without obtaining any extensions), you can complete the program is ten months. However, because the courses are offered through individualised study, you can work at your own pace and complete the program faster (if you are able to devote more time to the work) or more slowly. However, the minimum completion time is six months for faster students and one year for slower students. The final course in the program (IPGDLD 0775) is a legislative drafting project that will challenge you to bring your newly acquired skills and knowledge to bear on an original legislative drafting project. The IPGDLD is administered by the International Association of Legislative Drafting and Law Reform Lawyers (IALDLARL), London, United Kingdom, the Director of which is Dr.Tam I.Stewart, London Southbank University (info@ialdlarl.org.uk ). and the program is negotiating academic affiliation with the University of Oxford, United Kingdom. Program and courses The IPGDLD is a postgraduate level program comprised of five courses:
IPGDLD 771 Introduction to International Legislative Drafting This course will introduce students to legislative drafting. Students will develop legislative drafting skills and familiarity with approaches to legislative drafting typical in European Union; Islamic law; Common law and civil law jurisdictions as well as the model applied in drafting international legislation by the United Nations and other international governmental organisations. This course will focus on the modern and international nature of legislation that is emerging characterised by convergence of legislative drafting methods in the preparation of legislation irrespective of differences in common law and civil law jurisdictions. Some of these modern drafting practices include Legislative impact assessment (LIA), Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) just to mention a few. This course will introduce the identifying hallmarks, elements and major characteristics of quality legislation namely-clarity, unambiguity and plain language. Legislative punctuation, grammar and drafting legislative sentences will be explored. IPGDLD 0772 Instructions, Ethics of drafting and Compliance Students will continue to develop their legislative drafting skills and familiarity with approaches to legislative drafting in the different jurisdictions. This course will focus upon reviewing instructions for proposed legislation; the ethics of legislative drafting; examining the stages in the preparation of legislation; working with rules of interpretation and interpretation Acts; and developing effective styles. IPGDLD 0773 Structuring Legislation I Students will apply their developing drafting skills in more complex tasks. This course will focus upon working within the limits of constitutional and human rights, structuring legislation and developing legislative plans; preliminary provisions including titles, preambles, commencement and duration clauses, interpretation provisions, purpose clauses, temporary legislation vs semi-permanent legislation (sunset clauses, experiment clause, transition rules) and tomorrow ex post evaluation etc. IPGDLD 0774 Structuring Legislation II and Law Reform Students will rely upon the foundation of drafting skills they have developed in previous courses and pursue more complex elements of legislative drafting into a more holistic legislative framework. This course will focus upon the drafting of final provisions, delegated or subsidiary legislation (regulations), financial and tax provisions and legislation. The review, repeal, amendment and consolidation of legislation will be treated. Saving and transitional provisions; drafting schedules etc will be taught. IPGDLD 0775 Drafting Project. Students will pursue an autonomous legislative drafting project relying upon the foundation of drafting skills they have developed in all previous courses. This course will focus on independent research and legislative drafting. In consultation with the instructor (and an expert legislative drafter from the student s jurisdiction if required), the student will prepare instructions for a new piece of legislation; a legislative impact analysis LIA or RIA; prepare an effective legislative plan; and prepare and defend an original piece of legislation or bye-law. Successful completion of all five courses is necessary in order to receive the diploma.
It is expected that students will take the courses in the order in which they have been numbered, and the first four courses in the sequence must be completed before attempting the final one. The program is based on materials prepared by Tonye Clinton Jaja and other senior legislative drafters, and has been adapted for online delivery. The courses are designed to be relevant and useful in all countries with parliamentary and legislative processes. Variations in some practices and procedures amongst jurisdictions are anticipated and are expected to provide instructive comparisons for students. Course study materials, organized in Modules and sections, will be presented on the website in PDF format. You may print these out if you wish. Syllabi for the courses will be available online at: http://www.ialdlarl.org.uk/ipgdld/courses/.php Students The program is primarily intended for students with law degrees who wish to acquire knowledge and skill in drafting and who may or may not already have experience in the area. However, students with other degrees and some relevant background, such as involvement in policy formation, may also be admitted to the program. Study in the IPGDLD is individualized self-paced. This means that a student may enroll at whatever time they wish and proceed with a course at their own pace. The primary Program length is ten months which a student may extend up to a maximum of an additional six months in two month increments. Students begin a new course at the first of a month. Students will usually be at different points in their courses. There are no grouped classes and students will not be communicating with each other. Websites Information for the public and prospective students about the IPGDLD, its courses, policies and registration procedures is found at this website: http://www.ialdlarl.org.uk/pggdld/ Email info@ialdlarl.org.uk Postal Address International Association of Legislative Drafting and Law Reform Lawyers (IALDLARL) Suite 4, 104 Wells Park Road, London SE26 6JJ, United Kingdom.
Exercises Practical exercises are introduced throughout the study materials and are found in separate sections on the website. The exercises are designed for practice and self-testing and are not marked. Students are provided automatically with suggested answers and feedback once they have submitted their exercise answers online. However, they may have questions for you about the answer or feedback. Go to the exercise answers on the webpage to see the question, suggested answer and feedback given. These answer files are not visible to students. Assignments drafting projects Each course has a number of assignments that must be completed successfully to receive credit for the course. Instructors are responsible for marking these assignments, giving feedback and a mark to the students, and submitting a final grade for the course to the IALDLARL. A grading scheme for IPGDLD courses has been adopted and is as follows: 1. Assessment of each assignment is by reference to four qualities of the work produced, insofar as they are relevant to the particular assignment. The weightings of the qualities indicate their relative importance. Analysis 30% Composition 40% Style 20% Presentation 10% Total 100% 2. The four qualities are the main features of good drafting we are looking for. Here is a description of them: Analysis: thorough and full identification of the drafting problems arising in the Project; legally sound, and practical and effective, solutions to those problems; a complete legislative scheme producing legal certainty. Composition: grammatically sound writing; accurate legislative syntax (eg, sound use of subjects and verbs, particularly auxiliaries; proper modification; absence of ambiguity; appropriate punctuation); sensible choice of terms and consistency in their use; workable organization of provisions (i.e. a good legislative plan); sound structuring (e.g. suitable subsectioning, effective and correct use of paragraphs); provision of necessary linking. Style: clarity in expression of ideas; directness and conciseness in mode of writing; ease of use of completed text; generally, an ability to put into effect the principles of plain language drafting. Presentation: layout of legislative text that follows conventional practices; presence of necessary legislative features (e.g. section notes); consistency in formatting of individual provisions; correct numbering of provisions; presence of full punctuation; evidence of separate scrutiny.
3. Marks for the four qualities are totaled and a percentage mark as an overall assessment is given to the Drafting Project according to the following categories: Percentage Mark Equivalent Grade Description 95 100 A+ 90-94 A 85-89 A- 80-84 B+ 75-79 B 70-74 B- 66-69 C+ 63-65 C 60-62 C- 0 59 F Excellent: showing all round drafting competence Very Good: sound in almost every aspect of drafting Good: sound in most aspects of drafting Poor: weak in all or almost all aspects Note that in order to pass at the graduate level such as the IPGDLD it is necessary to achieve a final grade of at least C- (60%) in the course as a whole. There is no quota or curve applied to marks given but it is to be expected that there will be some range amongst students. Because of the high entry requirements there may be few failures, but external circumstances can sometimes interfere with successful course completion. If Instructors encounter a student who seems to be headed for failure in a course please notify the Program Coordinator who will discuss with the Instructor what might be done to assist the student. Assignments will be submitted and returned online and should be handled according to the following procedure: When you receive a notice in your regular email inbox that an assignment has been submitted, click on the link "available on the website" and login as required Find the assignment you wish to mark and click on the assignment filename to open it in Word Save the assignment to a dedicated folder on your computer (I call mine "2008 Assig") and use "Save As" to change the filename by adding "marked" to it (eg "JonesProj1marked.doc") Insert in the file any marking templates you use; you may wish to develop these based on the suggested project answers supplied on the course websites As you read the assignment, insert "comments" at appropriate places using this Word feature; the Track Changes feature may also be useful to illustrate better drafting
Fill out any marking template you have added to the file (a suggested template is available from the program Coordinator as file Analysis of Marks.doc ) Save the file and close it Go back to the Assignment Drop Box page and click the link "Submitted" in the "Status" column A new screen will pop up; on that screen click the "Browse" button to find the marked file you just saved Select that file and click "Open" Click the link "Upload this file" on the popup screen Fill in the grade (out of 100) on the popup screen In the text box below the grade box type any additional comments you may have; I just say "See returned file." Scroll to the bottom of the popup screen and click "Save changes" The popup screen will disappear and you will return to the Assignment Drop Box page; the grade will be shown and the status will be changed to "Marked"; your uploaded file probably will not appear yet - just refresh (reload) the page and it will be shown for the student to download The student will receive an automatically generated email telling them the assignment has been marked similar to the email you received when the assignment was submitted You can now delete the email notifying you that the assignment has been submitted The website will keep a record of marks and it is your responsibility when a student completes the final assignment in a course to calculate a total course mark out of 100 using the weightings assigned to each project, and assign a letter grade. The graduate marking information will be displayed on the page: http://www.ialdlarl.org.uk/ipgdld/courses/grade.php Send the total percentage mark for the course and the grade to the program office by email to info@ialdlarl.org.uk. Suggested answers and feedback for all the drafting projects were written by the course author and are available as PDF files on the course websites (not visible to students). Please do not send these files or the complete answers to students. Rather, use them as the basis for your personalized feedback. You may copy and provide some excerpts from the answers to illustrate the points you make to students. Good luck with your work in the IPGDLD!