Legislative drafter

Legislative drafters research pieces of legislations and edit them in order to make them stronger and more clear. Rarely they also add new ideas which have never been incorporated into a law or a bill before.

The following job titles also refer to legislative drafter:

parliamentary draftsperson
parliamentary draftsman
researcher
parliamentary councel
parliamentary draughtsman
parliamentary drafter

Master’s degree is generally required to work as legislative drafter. However, this requirement may differ in some countries.

ISCO skill level is defined as a function of the complexity and range of tasks and duties to be performed in an occupation. It is measured on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 the lowest level and 4 the highest, by considering:

• the nature of the work performed in an occupation in relation to the characteristic tasks and duties
• the level of formal education required for competent performance of the tasks and duties involved and
• the amount of informal on-the-job training and/or previous experience in a related occupation required for competent performance of these tasks and duties.

Legislative drafter is a Skill level 4 occupation.

These occupations, although different, require a lot of knowledge and skills similar to legislative drafter.

programme funding manager
legal policy officer
humanitarian advisor
member of parliament
senator

These occupations require some skills and knowledge of legislative drafter. They also require other skills and knowledge, but at a higher ISCO skill level, meaning these occupations are accessible from a position of legislative drafter with a significant experience and/or extensive training.

This knowledge should be acquired through learning to fulfill the role of legislative drafter.

Legislation procedure: The procedures involved in the making of laws and legislation, such as which organisations and individuals are involved, the process of how bills become laws, the proposal and reviewing process, and other steps in the legislation procedure.
Legal research: The methods and procedures of research in legal matters, such as the regulations, and different approaches to analyses and source gathering, and the knowledge on how to adapt the research methodology to a specific case to obtain the required information.
Constitutional law: The regulations dealing with the fundamental principles or established precedents which govern a state or organisation.
Public law: The part of law which governs relationships between individuals and the government, and the relationships between individuals which concern society directly.

These skills are necessary for the role of legislative drafter.

Analyse legislation: Analyse the existing legislation from a national or local government in order to assess which improvements could be made and which items of legislation could be proposed.
Use communication techniques: Apply techniques of communication which allow interlocutors to better understand each other and communicate accurately in the transmission of messages.
Draft legislation: Undertake the drafting of pieces of legislation in order to make areas of law which need reform more harmonized and clear.
Provide written content: Communicate information in written form via digital or print media according to the needs of the target group. Structure the content according to specifications and standards. Apply grammar and spelling rules.
Structure information: Organise information using systematic methods such as mental models and according to given standards in order to facilitate user information processing and understanding with respect to the specific requirements and characteristics of the output media.
Provide legal advice: Provide advice to clients in order to ensure that their actions are compliant with the law, as well as most beneficial for their situation and specific case, such as providing information, documentation, or advice on the course of action for a client should they want to take legal action or legal action is taken against them.

This knowledge is sometimes, but not always, required for the role of legislative drafter. However, mastering this knowledge allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

Customer service: Processes and principles related to the customer, client, service user and to personal services; these may include procedures to evaluate customer’s or service user’s satisfaction.
International law: The binding rules and regulations in the relations between states and nations, and legal systems dealing with countries rather than private citizens.

These skills and competences are sometimes, but not always, required for the role of legislative drafter. However, mastering these skills and competences allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

Create solutions to problems: Solve problems which arise in planning, prioritising, organising, directing/facilitating action and evaluating performance. Use systematic processes of collecting, analysing, and synthesising information to evaluate current practice and generate new understandings about practice.
Manage project information: Provide accurate and relevant information to all the parties involved in a project on time.
Apply strategic thinking: Apply generation and effective application of business insights and possible opportunities, in order to achieve competitive business advantage on a long-term basis.
Write work-related reports: Compose work-related reports that support effective relationship management and a high standard of documentation and record keeping. Write and present results and conclusions in a clear and intelligible way so they are comprehensible to a non-expert audience.
Report analysis results: Produce research documents or give presentations to report the results of a conducted research and analysis project, indicating the analysis procedures and methods which led to the results, as well as potential interpretations of the results.
Show diplomacy: Deal with people in a sensitive and tactful way.
Comment drafts: Observe and examine the drafts made by other legislative drafters in order to enhance quality control and to improve their drafting knowlege and skills.

2619 – Legal professionals not elsewhere classified

 

 

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References

1. Legislative drafter – ESCO