Legal Studies (LGST) 553

Instructions and Compliance

Revision 1 is closed for registrations, replaced by current version

Delivery Mode: Individualized-Study

Credits: 3

Faculty: Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences

Program: Post-Baccalaureate Diploma in Legislative Drafting

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Introduction

LGST 553: Instructions and Compliance follows from LGST 551: Introduction to Legislative Drafting. Students will continue to develop their drafting skills and their familiarity with approaches to legislative drafting typical in common law jurisdictions. This course focuses on reviewing instructions for proposed legislation, examining the stages in the preparation of legislation, working with rules of interpretation and interpretation acts, and developing effective legislative styles.

Course Objectives

Upon completion of LGST 553, students should be able to archieve the following course objectives.

  1. Take into account when drafting, where relevant: unwritten rules of statutory interpretation applied by common law judges; and in particular, the important presumptions and canons of interpretation relied upon by judges.
  2. Apply the drafting practices authorized by the Interpretation legislation in your jurisdiction; and implement the requirements of that legislation as to the form, application and presentation of legislation.
  3. Explain the value and functions of instructions in preparing legislat­ion and the practice in relation to them in your jurisdiction.
  4. Analyse simple instructions and determine when further instructions may be needed; and take appropriate action where instructions are inadequate.
  5. Apply a range of stylistic devices in composing legislation that will contribute to its effectiveness and clarity.
  6. Put into effect the main practices that lead to a plain-language style of drafting.
  7. Follow a gender-neutral style of drafting, where appropriate.

Student Evaluation

Students should be prepared to devote the time necessary to complete the various activities in this course: reading actively and critically; researching the law and legal principles and recording the results of that research; engaging in self-study exercises; and preparing drafting projects that are appropriate and adequate for their purposes. To help students develop these skills, the course instructor will provide feedback on drafting projects. Students are expected to demonstrate a willingness to work.

To help students plan their individual study schedules, each activity is weighted proportionately. Your work in this course will be evaluated according to the principles of legislative drafting, including style, research, background/context, and grammar/mechanics.

To receive credit for LGST 553: Instructions and Compliance, students will be required to complete the following activities successfully.

Prepare five drafting projects interspersed at appropriate points in the course and weighted as follows:

Drafting Project 1 Drafting Project 2 Drafting Project 3 Drafting Project 4 Drafting Project 5 Total
10% 10% 20% 25% 35% 100%

Course Materials

The course materials for LGST 553: Instructions and Compliance are all available on the course website. These materials include study materials, exercise and drafting project instructions, and resource materials with a bibliography and links to useful websites.

Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized-study counterparts.