Overview
In LGST 559: Legislative Drafting Project, students will pursue a single significant drafting project. This course is designed to allow students to demonstrate the knowledge and skills they have gained in the program through preparing an original piece of legislative drafting under the direction of a supervising instructor and, in some cases, an advisor from the student's jurisdiction. Through the Final Drafting Project students work on legislation responding to a problem identified by a law reform project or in proposals from an NGO or lobby group. The project will result in the production of an effective legislative outline and a new piece of legislation. In consultation with the Program Directors and the Instructor Supervisor the student will select a project; review and analyze instructions for a new piece of legislation; prepare an effective legislative outline; and prepare an original piece of legislation.
Successful projects in this course can be viewed in the Digital Thesis & Project Room.
Outline
This course is comprised of three components that together make up a major drafting project. They are:
- Analysis of drafting instructions
- A legislative outline
- An original Bill or other draft legislation
The project must be based on instructions drawn up by a third party such as a law reform agency, government department, NGO, lobby group, or other acceptable source.
Learning outcomes
Upon completion of this course, students should be able
- review instructions for a new piece of legislation and analyze those instructions for completeness and consistency, taking appropriate action when instructions are inadequate
- prepare an effective legislative outline
- prepare an original piece of legislation suitable for enactment based on the instructions and outline
Evaluation
Students should be prepared to devote the time necessary to complete the various activities in this course within six months. This includes: reading actively and critically; researching the law and legal principles and recording the results of that research; and preparing the elements of the major drafting project that are appropriate and adequate for their purposes. To help students demonstrate these skills, the Instructor Supervisor will provide guidance and feedback. Students are expected to work diligently and manage their time so as to devote adequate attention to each component of their assessed drafting within the six month course period.
To help students outline 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 this course, students will be required to complete the following activities successfully and obtain an overall grade of at least C- (60%).
Prepare the following components weighted as follows:
| Activity | Weight | Complete by |
| Analysis of Drafting Instructions | 15% | Early in the course |
| Legislative Outline | 25% | Mid way through course |
| Original Bill or other Draft Legislation | 60% | Course completion |
| Total | 100% | |
Materials
There are no additional study materials for this course but resource materials with a bibliography and links to useful websites are made available on the course website.