The Foundation continued its workshop series to enhance sustainability and capacity of trained drafters in the Maldives
On 1 and 2 June 2022, the Max Planck Foundation conducted the second Training-of-Trainers Workshop for drafters from the Law Reform and Legislative Affairs Division of the Attorney General’s Office. This activity aims to share practical knowledge, experience and expertise of legislative drafting standards, to strengthen the profession within government and promote consistency, collaboration and a deeper understanding of the tools to improve the quality of laws.
The workshop, held via videoconference, examined practical considerations and comparative legislative solutions to frequently occurring policy problems. On 1 June, the sessions familiarised the trainers with the main techniques through which legal relationships are created and how legislative provisions are formulated. It encouraged the trainers to apply these techniques in various drafting scenarios. The trainers also examined the different considerations for creating effective compliance and enforcement provisions and a range of general regulatory powers that can be trigged by new or amending legislation, including comparative drafting standards and guidelines for when they are developing these compliance and enforcement tools.
On 2 June, the trainers gained a clearer understanding of the reasons for creating new statutory entities at arms-length with different hierarchical structures than those from traditionally functioning core ministries. The sessions considered the public policy reasons for creating new statutory bodies and the governance arrangements that can ensure proper external direction and oversight, but also good internal systems and processes. In addition, the sessions addressed the preferred organisational form for new statutory entities depending on the type of functions and activities it is expected to perform, including illustrations of good drafting standards for establishing statutory bodies. The trainers shared valuable insights and guidance about their drafting practices which will benefit the legal and technical officers from line ministries during the upcoming capacity building workshop for ministerial staff from 19 – 21 June 2022.
The next Training-of-Trainers Workshop will be held during the third quarter of 2022, and it is planned to coincide with the final capacity building workshop for legal and 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‘.