The first in a series to facilitate long-term availability of trained drafters in the Maldives
From 26 – 28 September 2021, the Max Planck Foundation conducted a Training-of-Trainers workshop for senior drafters of the Drafting Division of the Attorney General’s Office. The series provides practical knowledge about legislative drafting standards, to cultivate, on the one hand, an awareness and understanding of theoretical drafting principles, their purpose, application, and expected results from their use, and on the other hand, experience in the application of these principles. The drafters who have been trained in this series of workshops will serve as co-trainers together with Foundation research fellows over three workshops for technical officers from line ministries and other governmental agencies in the Maldives focused on improving the tools for conceptualising and developing legislative proposals.
The first workshop was held via videoconference. The opening presentations discussed teaching and learning methods on how to draft good laws, and ways in which the trainers can implement in-house, practical drafting training programmes that suit their requirements and capacities as well as the beneficiaries. The sessions addressed foundational topics on managing legislation, particularly the politics and process by which Bills are enacted, the role, functions, and associated tasks of drafters during this process, and the practical ways of engaging with line ministries in conceptualising legislative proposals and improving the details provided by them. It also discussed the various factors and considerations to weigh in terms of the choice of legal instrument that is most appropriate to carry the main regulatory message.
The trainers were encouraged to incorporate a rule of law approach to legislative drafting and, in this context, they considered the impact of legislative drafting and explored different drafting tools that can contribute towards preserving the rule of law. The sessions also addressed the techniques and criteria to limit discretionary powers in legislation from leading to arbitrary decisions or actions by public authorities. The trainers shared invaluable insights and examples from domestic legislation in order to refine the training material and presentations, and tailor it for participants in the upcoming workshop for technical officers from line ministries.
The next Training-of-Trainers workshop will be held during the first quarter of 2022, and it will coincide with the second workshop for technical officers from line ministries. This series of workshops has been developed as part of the German Federal Foreign Office funded project, “Stabilising the Rule of Law by Supporting the Reform Agenda of the Republic of Maldives”.