Principal topics covered in the course include:
- what is legislation?
- the role of the legislative drafter
- legislative drafting techniques
- the role of parliamentary scrutiny committees
- legislative interpretation in the context of legislative drafting
- delegated legislation and Commonwealth legislative instruments.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
If you successfully complete this course, you should be able to:- prepare a basic drafting plan and outline for a legislative proposal;
- appreciate the role of parliamentary scrutiny committees, and how the work of these committees influences legislative drafting;
- exercise fundamental legislative drafting skills;
- apply the criteria in the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 (Cth) and the common law to determine whether an instrument is of a legislative character; alternatively, discuss in an informed way the concept of legislative character in the law relating to legislative instruments;
- identify drafting techniques by which a drafter seeks to influence interpretation by the courts;
- appreciate the way in which the law of interpretation influences the preparation of legislation, and the way in which provisions are drafted to influence that law;
- diagnose sources of doubt as to the meaning of legislation;
- identify the interpretative factors which were considered by a court in a particular case;
- explain how different judicial opinions were arrived at as to the meaning of legislative provisions in doubt in a case;
- appreciate how interpretation Acts and other Acts of general application affect the work of the legislative drafter.
Other Information
This course offers students a rare opportunity to gain an insight into a specialised area of government law. The course is taught by an experienced legislative drafter and an academic expert in statutory interpretation and delegated legislation.
The challenge of legislative drafting is to express complex concepts in clear language, and to embody them in effective legal rules. Students will be introduced to foundation skills in drafting legislation, and will study statutory interpretation and subordinate legislation from the point of view of the legislative drafting process.
It is a practical course. It will be taught intensively by a combination of lectures and tutorials.
Indicative Assessment
Students must rely on the approved Means of Assessment which will be posted to the Wattle course site approximately 4 weeks prior to the commencement of the course.
Assessment is likely to consist of:
- Minor drafting exercise (1500 wds, 10%)
- Drafting problem(s) (3000 wds, 50%)
- Case analysis (2500 words, 30%)
- Essay or Advice (1500 words, 10%)
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
26-28 Contact Hours (Intensive Delivery over 4 days) plus private study time
2014 Intensive course dates: 9-10 & 23-24 May
Click here for current LLM Masters Program timetable.
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
Cook C et al, Laying Down the Law 8th ed.Seidman, Ann, et al Legislative Drafting for Democratic Social Change: A Manual for Drafters, Kluwer
Preliminary Reading
A reading brick will be available for purchase.A Course Outline will be posted to the Wattle course site approximately 6 weeks prior to the commencement of the course.
Assumed Knowledge
Students should have one or more of:
- a legal qualification
- knowledge of law or legislation acquired in the course of non-legal studies
- professional experience working with legislation (whether as a lawyer or otherwise)
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 3
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are an undergraduate student and have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). You can find your student contribution amount for each course at Fees. Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2015 | $2958 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2015 | $4146 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
Summer Session
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1722 | 13 Feb 2015 | 13 Feb 2015 | 27 Feb 2015 | 11 Apr 2015 | In Person | N/A |
