Writing the laws of the land

Delegates from across the Caribbean have been speaking about how a Commonwealth Secretariat course on legislative drafting has helped them in their work in their home countries.

The legislative drafting programme, which was funded by the Secretariat, covered all areas of the legislative process and the necessary ingredients for preparing drafting instructions and drafting international conventions.

Jamaican delegate, Melanie Ffrench attended the 2008 programme at the University of Guyana, after joining the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel as a drafter two years ago.

She said: “As a newly employed drafter I realised that I was still not properly equipped to draft the nation’s legislation. Although in my office we receive on-the-job training my needs were still not being completely met.

“I was told about the legislative drafting programme being offered by the Commonwealth Secretariat for young legislative drafters in the Caribbean. The course promised to equip me with the skills necessary to enable me to be a valuable part of Jamaica’s legislative drafting team.”

Through written exercises and role plays she learned about her role and purpose as a legislative drafter and the importance of the contribution of the client ministry to the drafting process.

“The role play exercises were enjoyable and I have since been placed in circumstances similar to those being simulated and I believe I have handled situations far better because of them,” she added.

Ms Ffrench said the participants also benefited from a computer lab, which helped them prepare for their assignments and allowed them to remain in contact with friends and family. The Secretariat also made internet connections available in each of their apartments and, with added help from the British High Commission, each delegate received a personal copy of Thornton’s text on Legislative Drafting.

A year after the start of the programme Ms Ffrench said she has used every aspect of her training when completing assigned tasks, and the value of the course has been recognised by her employers as no sooner had she returned from the course she was commended for her drafting skills and received more complex assignments including drafting new bills.

Another participant, Amanza Walton-Desir from Guyana, went on to complete, with Distinction, a Masters of Law Degree in International Maritime Law at the IMO International Maritime Law Institute in Malta after attending the first legislative drafters course in Guyana in 2007.

She said: “One of the major components of that programme [the Masters] is a legislative drafting project, in which participants have to select one international maritime convention and incorporate it into their respective national laws.

“However, because of the training I received from the drafting programme I was able to go further and to successfully craft a legal regime comprising six international conventions, intended to comprehensively address the full spectrum of vessel source marine pollution, an issue which, in Guyana’s case, has not yet been the subject of legislative action.”

Ms Walton-Desir said she was “particularly impressed” with the calibre of the facilitators and the comprehensive, yet focused manner in which the curriculum was designed and delivered at the legislative drafting course in Guyana.