The purpose of the workshop is to initiate discussions within the Government of Montenegro about how the quality of legislation can be improved and how capacities in legislative drafting can be developed in officials in the Public Service in Montenegro by reference to experiences in other countries.

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Workshop
Building Capacities for Legislative Drafting
Monday 26 May 2014
Hotel Podgorica
Purpose of Workshop
The purpose of the Workshop is to initiate discussions in Montenegro about how the quality of
legislation can be improved and how capacities in legislative drafting can be developed in officials
in the Public Service in Montenegro by reference to experiences elsewhere.
Time Activity, Objective & Speaker
09.00–09.30 Registration of participants
09.30–09.40 Introduction and Welcome
Welcome participants and outline objectives for the day
Chairperson: Mr Edward Donelan, SIGMA, OECD
09.40–10.00 Presentation on the ‘Challenge of Continuous Improvement in Legislative
Drafting’.
This presentation will outline developments in techniques for improving the
quality of legislation in EU and OECD countries and assess future trends globally
to improve the quality of legislation.
Mr Edward Donelan
10.00–10.20 Presentation on different approaches adopted in EU and OECD countries to the
challenge of Building Capacities in Legislative Drafting.
This presentation will explain different approach to training lawyers to draft
legislation and will outline what should be in a training programme for
legislative drafters.
Professor St John Bates

2. 2
Time Activity, Objective & Speaker
10.20–11.00 Presentation on the use of Manuals as a means to build capacities in legislative
drafting.
This presentation will describe the experience of the European Commission of
drafting a manual of legislative drafting.
Mr William Robinson
11.00–11.30 Coffee break
11.30–12.00 Presentation on the development of legislative drafting in Slovenia.
This presentation will describe the experience of Slovenia in the development
of legislative drafting capacities and the process for legislative drafting in that
country.
Ms Petra Mundy
12.00–12.30 Questions and discussions
12.30–14.00 Lunch
14.00–15.15 Breakout groups
The participants will be divided into three groups and each will be asked to
address a series of questions:
 What does the term “good quality legislation” mean in Montenegro?
 Of the ideas outlined by international experts, which would be of relevance
in Montenegro?
 What are the main challenges to drafting legislation in Montenegro?
Each of the speakers will appoint a chair for their respective breakout sessions
and appoint a speaker to make a summary presentation of the discussions in
the group.
14.15–15.45 Presentation by each breakout group
Speaker as selected by each group
15.45–16.00 Summary by chairperson of issues raised
Mr Edward Donelan
16.00–16.30 Coffee break
16.30–17.00 Discussion of conclusions and next steps.

3. 3
Presenters:
Mr Edward Donelan is a barrister qualified in England and Ireland with 25 years’ experience of legislative
drafting and work in 23 countries providing technical assistance to countries building capacities in
legislative drafting and author of a number of reports and articles on regulatory management and
related issues.
Professor St John Bates is a former Clerk of the Parliament in the Isle of Man, manages a consultancy
established in 2001, with its head office in the Isle of Man and a presence in London and Brussels, which
has a wide range of public and private sector clients and an international reputation in providing these
services. He also teaches a course on legislation in the University of Strathclyde, Scotland, and was for 25
years editor of the Statute Law Review, the leading journal on legislation in the world.
Mr William Robinson is an Associate Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of
London and has worked as a legal adviser in both the European Commission and the European Court of
Justice.
Ms Petra Mundy is the Public Information Officer in the Office for Legislation, Government of the
Republic of Slovenia. That Office is responsible for the quality of drafting of legislation. It intervenes at all
stages of adopting each legal act to ensure that legislative proposals and adopted acts are clear and
precise and comply with the rules as to form.