There are certain principles any legislative ACT must abide by
This deliberate vagueness or incompetence allows every side to claim legality of disciplinary action when the Act says NOTHING about it. Madness.
I concur! I’ve always been interested in legislative drafting, sadly, there’s very little taught at Law school, I wonder if there are institutions or internships one can do to perfect this skill.
There are specialized training available. There are certain principles any legislative ACT must abide by. That gives you a structure to work with. It is a shame that many of our Acts (inc the Constitution) are poorly drafted to cause confusion, mischiefs and lacunas.
First, it will be good to know if the NA have a National Drafting Manual. The legislative drafting manual is a country’s description of best drafting practices. The manual explains the consensus opinion of the best drafters on how to conduct legislative research….
…how to write provisions in legislation such as definitions, purpose statements, grants of authority, prohibitions & penalties; & how to organize a draft. It also provides specific examples of good & bad drafting so that readers will know how to apply the general principles.
A good drafting manual promotes drafting quality. If the top drafters among all the agencies that draft legislation gather, discuss & debate best drafting practices, the best practices described in their manual will promote a uniform and consistent drafting style in the country.
Without drafting manual, drafters tend to develop divergent writing styles. 2 drafters faced with same request for legislation may produce 2 very different drafts. The lack of consistency will confuse readers. People will not be sure if 2 different provisions mean the same thing.