CHIEF DIRECTORATE: STATE LAW ADVISORY SERVICES
A. Legislative Drafting Training: General
The CD: SLAS facilitates a postgraduate Legislative Drafting Certificate Course offered by the University of Johannesburg in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal.
The course presenters are Prof EFJ ("Rassie") Malherbe and Adv Anton Meyer.
Prof Rassie Malherbe is Dean of the Faculty of Public Law and teaches Constitutional Law and Interpretation Theory at the University of Johannesburg. He publishes in the area of constitutional law, human rights law and education law. Prof Malherbe not only has eminent academic qualifications, but also a wealth of experience in the public sector, having served in senior management positions in the erstwhile national Department of Constitutional Development.
Adv Anton Meyer is our legislative drafting “guru” – one would be hard pressed to find someone with more practical knowledge and experience in the field. Adv Meyer served for many years as Deputy Chief State Law Advisor in the Department of Justice and rounded off a very successful career in law in the public sector as the Chief Parliamentary Law Advisor before his retirement.
The training is interesting and stimulating and the assignments challenging – in all a most worthwhile exercise which is expected to result in improved skill and proficiency in legislative drafting in the Office of the Premier and the other Provincial Departments in KwaZulu-Natal.
As an added bonus, candidates who complete the course successfully may, upon application, be considered for a fully sponsored Internship Programme with the Indiana University School of Law. For details, please scroll down to paragraph F on this page.
Costs of the Certificate Course: R5 500-00 per person plus R130-00 registration fee.
For an overview of the Course contents, please scroll down to paragraph F on this page.
B. Legislative Drafting Training: Report on Programme for 2003
The first round of training took place on 9 and 10 April 2003. It is encouraging to report that about 20 officers from various Provincial Departments attended!
Assignments (which count 50% of the final mark) were due before or on 21 May 2003, and the second round of the training took place on 28 and 29 May 2003.
Examinations (a 3 hour written paper) were conducted on 20 June 2003.
Candidates who completed the course successfully received a certificate.
C. Legislative Drafting Training: Report on Programme for 2004
This certificate course took place on Wednesday 18 and Thursday 19 February 2004 and Wednesday 5 and Thursday 6 May 2004. Assignments were done and a 3 hour written examination takes place on 11 June 2004.
The Legislative Drafting Certificate Course Examination took place on Friday 11 June 2004 from 09h00 - 12h00 in Lecture Room 2, 15th Floor North Tower, Natalia Building, Pietermaritzburg.
D. Legislative Drafting Training: Report on Programme for 2005
As part of the initiative of MEXCO and the Department of the Premier to co-operate with private sector lawyers in promoting the broad objectives of Black economic empowerment, the 2005 Certificate Course in Legislative Drafting was also extended to members of the Black Lawyers Association (BLA) and the National Association of Democratic Lawyers (NADEL) who may wish to attend.
The dates for the 2005 Legislative Drafting Certificate Course in Pietermaritzburg which was held at the Ascot Inn in Pietermaritzburg (210 Woodhouse Road, Scottsville; (033) 386-2226) were as follows:
Lectures:
1st set: Thursday 10 and Friday 11 February 2005
2nd set: Thursday 5 and Friday 6 May 2005
Assignments:
Were completed between the 1st and 2nd sets of lectures
Written Examination:
Friday 10 June 2005
Venue: Natalia Building, Longmarket Street, Pietermaritzburg
Contact: Mrs Chanika Peters at (033) 395-2157 who invigilated
E. Legislative Drafting Training: Programme for 2006
Due to a general lack of response (only 4 candidates from KZN have registered as at 25 January 2006), the University of Johannesburg has indicated that the 2006 Certificate Course in Legislative Drafting will only be offered in Johannesburg towards the end of July 2006.
It is hoped that KZN Public Sector Lawyers who have not yet attended this most valuable training will register to ensure that they are fully empowered to establish the legal framework for service delivery.
F. Legislative Drafting Training: Programme for 2007
It is unlikely that KZN will muster the required numbers for the course to be offered in Pietermaritzburg in 2007 as most KZN Public Sector Lawyers have, since 2003, attended the course.
Individual KZN Public Sector Lawyers who have not yet attended the course are encouraged to register and to attend in Johannesburg.
This course would also be valuable to Planners, Policy Practitioners and other line function officials who, in the course of their duties, are tasked with drafting and implementing legislation.
All prospective candidates must, as soon as possible, contact Mrs Corrie Hasse (Manager: Extracurricular Courses, UJ) at cjha@regte.rau.ac.za; (011) 489-2037 (tel); (011) 489-2399 (fax) to register and pay the fees.
Costs of the course: R5 500-00 plus R400-00 registration fee and an application fee of R145-00. The application fee only applies to persons who do not have a University of Johannesburg (previously, Rand Afrikaans University) student number (ie. those who have never been registered for any course with the University of Johannesburg or previously with RAU).
G. Legislative Drafting Training: Course contents
Click here to view a .pdf brochure and details of the course contents.
H. Internship with the Indiana University School of Law
Candidates who complete the Legislative Drafting Certificate Course satisfactorily, may be considered for an Internship Programme with the Indiana University School of Law.
For further details and an on-line application form, click on the link below:
Indiana University School
of Law
The Provincial Chief State Law Advisor (Adv Jacques Wolmarans) attended the Fall 2003 Internship. A short report on the Internship appears here.
State Law Advisor (Adv Bheki Mbili) attended the Fall 2004 Internship.
I. Annual Legislative Drafting Conference and Workshop
The Universities of Johannesburg, Pretoria and Indiana are conducting a joint project on the promotion of, and capacity building in, legislative drafting in South Africa. The project, sponsored by the University of Indiana, offers an annual internship in the USA for selected South African officials (see par F above).
An annual Legislative Drafting Conference and Workshop in South Africa is also held.
The 2005 Legislative Drafting Conference and Workshop, featuring national and international speakers, was held from 4 - 8 July 2005 in Cape Town.
J. University of London: Legislative Drafting Course
The Sir William Dale Centre for Legislative Studies at the University of London specialises in teaching and research in the field of legislative drafting and law reform. The Centre plays an immensely important role in the development of legislative drafting as an academic discipline worthy of specialised study. It seeks to spread the Sir William Dale ideas for simple, precise and accurate legislative texts which are accessible to lawyers and non-lawyers alike in all jurisdictions.
Research is undertaken at Centre, staff and student levels. Current focus is on the quality of EU legislation. The Centre co-operates with the Institute of European Law of Basel (Switzerland) and Indiana University (USA) in the publication of the European Journal of Law Reform.
The Centre and its staff offer consultancy services to governmental and international agencies in the area of legislative drafting.
The Centre offers consultancy in the area of law reform and legislative drafting and its staff organise a number of tailor-made courses in various countries.
The Centre also offers an annual Legislative Drafting Course in London. The 2007 Course is scheduled for 11 June - 6 July 2007.
Costs involved: The Course: £5 950-00; an optional Visit to the Hague: £350-00
This includes fees, accommodation, breakfast and dinner in single rooms for no more than 30 nights at the Halls of Residence of the University of London. The Halls offer spartan yet convenient and safe student accommodation close to the IALS. Other types of accommodation can be arranged at a higher cost. Living expenses, transport, recommended books and writing materials are not included.
Click on the link for details of the syllabus, a brochure and an application form.