What is effective legislation? Is it a matter of intuition, luck or the result of evidence based law making? Can it be consciously ‘engineered’? This book advances the novel idea that legislative effectiveness is the result of complex ‘mechanics’ in the conceptualisation, design and drafting of four elements inherent in every law: purpose, content, context and results. It concludes that effectiveness can be achieved with conceptual and methodological insights that guide the specific choices of lawmakers when designing and drafting legislation.
This paper is the second of two parts of a general theory of regulation. An effective regulatory system, whether created by a public legislative body or by private charter, must be coherent if it is to be successful. Coherence is a 'property' of well-designed regulatory systems. We suggest that differing degrees of regulatory success depends on coherent regulation and that the major cause of regulatory failure, ranging from weak to catastrophic, is from incoherence between one or more of a variety of components and layers of a regulatory system. The two main dimensions of a regulatory system are the normative and the positive. A successful, coherent regulatory system is a system that operates effectively within itself, has its own structure of centres and linkages, its own drivers, and checks and balances. Given the complexity of the issue, the theory is divided into two parts: normative and positive. In the first article, we demonstrate that an effective regulatory system requires coherent normative policy foundations, a coherent positive legal architecture, and that the normative must be correctly translated into the positive legal architecture to create of a successful regulatory system. In the second article we examine the translation of the normative policy choices contained in the regulatory approach into positive law. The positive legal dimension of a regulatory system is composed of several 'components'- each serving a specific legal function. These components, in turn, form the structural, substantive and operational aspects of a regulatory system. The design of the legal architecture must reflect the normative choices discussed in article I. These choices, in turn, influence the structural, substantive and operational composition of a regulatory system. Furthermore, in order for a regulatory system to function effectively, there must be a coherent relationship between each of the components.
This book addresses key questions around gender-sensitive legislation as a key output of gender sensitive Parliaments and explores practical ways to promote gender-sensitive ex-ante scrutiny of legislation, improve implementation through gender responsive budgeting, assess the gender impact of legislation ex post and express laws in gender inclusive ways. All laws have a gender, and the gender of the law can reveal itself in the language, the content and the results of legislation. Gender-blind laws can discriminate directly or indirectly against individuals or population groups, can produce unwanted effects, can reproduce gender stereotypes, and can render laws and policies ineffective. Gender-sensitive legislation on the other hand, can be expected to achieve its desired legislative objectives without unwanted differential impact on the grounds of gender and other individual characteristics and can simultaneously promote gender equality. This book advances the premise that gender sensitive legislation is not the result of political will or good intentions alone but the outcome of gender-sensitive legislative decision-making throughout the life cycle of legislation. This means that gender concerns need to be an integral part of the processes of legislative design and drafting, ex-ante and ex-post legislative scrutiny and implementation of legislation. Gender Sensitive Lawmaking in Theory and Practice will be a great resource for academics, researchers, and advanced students of Law, Public Policy, Gender and Women’s Studies and Sociology. The chapters included in this book were originally published as a special issue of The Theory and Practice of Legislation.
Designed for upper-level survey legal drafting courses, this groundbreaking text explains drafting using a common vocabulary that applies to any legal document based on a fundamental rule structure, including statutes and other forms of public drafting as well as contracts and other forms of private drafting. This unified drafting approach gives students a common denominator approach to drafting all kinds of legal documents. In addition, students can use the techniques they’ve learned to deconstruct, interpret, and revise any kind of legal document composed of rules. This common-sense approach of teaching/learning a single vocabulary and set of skills to use in drafting any rules-based legal document is an innovative model for U.S. legal drafting courses, though it has been used in other countries for decades. Key Features: A unified approach that teaches students the general skills of drafting rules of law—duties, discretionary authority, and declarations, including their conditions in legal tests. Practice applying those skills to drafting a range of documents, including contracts, statutes, regulations, and other. Coverage of how courts interpret the rules and how to draft anticipating what the courts will do. An understanding of how law governs human behavior through the rules that students learn to draft. A wide range of classroom exercises on the detail of drafting. Additional drafting assignments, for use in and out of class, that help students learn how to use the rules and to accomplish clients’ goals.
This innovative book proposes new theories on how the legal system can be made more comprehensible, usable and empowering for people through the use of design principles. Utilising key case studies and providing real-world examples of legal innovation, the book moves beyond discussion to action. It offers a rich set of examples, demonstrating how various design methods, including information, service, product and policy design, can be leveraged within research and practice.
Following on from the first volume, this unique book is the only collection of native analyses of the status of legislation in 30 European jurisdictions plus the EU. Each chapter, written by a national authority in the legislative field, presents and critically assesses: - the national constitutional environment and its connection with EU law; - the nature and types of legislation; - the legislative process; - the drafting process; - jurisprudence conventions; - the training of drafters. The book opens with a comparative chapter on the these six themes, and concludes with an analysis of trends and best practices in Europe. Legislation in Europe is a necessary addition to law and policy libraries, law-making institutions and agencies, and an invaluable tool for constitutional and drafting academics and practitioners.
In recent years, better delivery in development has been at the center of development discourse. There is now wide agreement that today'sdevelopment challenges demand effective solutions that fully integrate the aspirations, voices, needs, and support of citizens. But how canthe international community translate that realization into practical accomplishment?Volume 6 of The World Bank Legal Review examines delivery challenges through the lens of three concepts that are critical to better development outcomes: voice, social contract, and accountability. The volume turns a spotlight on the nature of this interlocking trio, revealing that their consistent integration into both the design and the implementation of development efforts is indispensable if successful outcomes are to result.Written by seasoned practitioners and eminent scholars from across the globe, the volume's 24 chapters illuminate the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to development. Development practitioners devoted to rule of law and justice must work with experts from various disciplines to create a synergistic dynamic that can optimize the integration of voice, social contract, and accountability into development efforts.
