Legal Studies (LGST) 555

Introduction

Following on from the first two courses in the Post-Baccalaureate Diploma in Legislative Drafting, students in LGST 555 will continue to develop their drafting skills and their familiarity with approaches to legislative drafting that are typical in common law jurisdictions. This course focuses on 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, and application provisions.

Course Objectives

Upon completion of LGST 555, students should be able to achieve the following course objectives.

1. Work within the constraints imposed by the Constitution in the student's jurisdiction.
2. Take full account of the requirements of the Constitution so that the legislation is not vulnerable to legal challenge.
3. Draw attention to legislative proposals or provisions that may be inconsistent with:
   • the Fundamental Freedoms provisions of the Constitution in the student's jurisdiction, or
   • treaty obligations on human rights standards which the student’s State has assumed toward individuals
   and find ways to prevent such inconsistencies.
4. When drafting legislation, order and link legislative sentences into a logical structure in a legislative document.
5. Design a legislative plan for drafting a short Bill.
6. Draft provisions that appear as the preliminary provisions in Bills in the student's jurisdiction.

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 and context, and grammar and mechanics.

To receive credit for LGST 555: Structuring Legislation I, students will be required to complete each of the following activities successfully.

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