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Legislation is a science and the emergence of legislative drafting as an expertise is a logical corollary of legislation becoming the most important source of law in modern times. As pointed out by Renton Committee the life of the ordinary citizen at present day is affected by various laws from the cradle to grave. Awareness of the law making process is all the more important because every law is an infraction of liberty or some right or privilege vested in someone. With the legislative machinery churning out a steady mass of legislation it becomes necessary for the stakeholders to understand the law making process.
Ligislative drafting is not a discipline which can be cabined or compressed into text book doctrines. However like every field of expertise it is possible for the elder drafters to pass on the experience of their generation to the younger ones. This will also help to foster and maintain the institutional memory. Viewed in this context nothing can be more valuable than a book on drafting authored by a drafter who was the first draftsman to head the Legislative Department after independence namely Mr. G. Rajagopaul. The first edition of his book Drafting of Laws was published in 1980, which comprised of 229 pages. But the second edition of the book by his successor Mr. T.K. Viswanathan, many decades later with a new title Legislative Drafting: Shaping the Law for the New Millennium and additions and revisions has doubled. In revising the book recourse has been had extensively to the writings of Lord Thring, Courtenay Ilbert, Arthur Symonds, Driedger, Dickerson, Bennion, Thornton and others. Latest developments have been covered with the help of the articles and materials published in the Statute Law Review, Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsel Newsletter and Loophole. New chapters have been added to present legislative drafting in the proper perspective. This book gives an excellent insight into the law making process and is a must not only for the legislative drafters but also to all parliamentarians, administrators and judges.
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Pages : 568
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