Legislative Drafting

Description

The Legislative Drafting programme is designed to train lawyers in the skill of drafting legislation to further the regulation of societal affairs. In addition to instruction in the technical skill of drafting 'traditional' legislation, the programme provides the candidates with a basic understanding of treaty drafting and constitution writing. The programme brings greater intellectual depth and breadth to candidates so that they will not only be technically qualified draftspersons but also effective policy advisors to their Governments and other clients. To this end, the programme requires that candidates registered for the Masters (as opposed to the Postgraduate Diploma only) take, in addition to the core course in Legislative Drafting, Public Law I (Advanced Constitutional Law), Public Law II (Advanced Administrative Law), and either two additional UWI LLM courses, or a single course and to produce a Research Paper, or a single course and to engage in a Supervised Legislative Drafting Internship.

 

Course Study: 36 Credits

Candidates registered for the UWI LLM and Postgraduate Diploma in Legislative Drafting must complete the following:

  • The core, two-semester course in LAW 6740 Legislative Drafting (12 credit hours)
  • LAW 6720 Public Law I – Advanced Constitutional Law (6 credit hours)
  • LAW 6730 Public Law II – Advanced Administrative Law (6 credit hours) For their remaining credits, candidates in the UWI LLM in Legislative Drafting programme may:
    • select any two (2) courses offered in the UWI LLM programme; or
    • select one(1) course offered in the UWI LLM programme and apply to complete a Research Paper on a topic in Legislative Drafting or on a topic in either Public Law I or Public Law II or on such other topic as the Faculty may permit; or
    • select one (1) course offered in the UWI LLM programme and apply to complete a Supervised Internship course focusing on legislative drafting.

The Research Paper and Supervised Legislative Drafting Internship courses are each worth six (6) credit hours.

 

Course-Based Option

  • First Semester : LAW 6720 Public Law I – Advanced Constitutional Law, LAW 6740 Legislative Drafting, and one additional UWI LLM course ;
  • Second Semester: LAW 6730 Public Law II – Advanced Administrative Law, LAW 6740 Legislative Drafting, and one additional UWI LLM course Research Paper or Internship Option
  • First Semester: LAW 6720 Public Law I – Advanced Constitutional Law, LAW 6740 Legislative Drafting, and one additional UWI LLM course;
  • Second Semester: LAW 6730 Public Law II – Advanced Administrative Law, LAW 6740 Legislative Drafting;
  • Summer teaching session: LAW 6900 Research Paper or LAW 6910 Supervised Legislative Drafting Internship

The Research Paper must be completed at the end of the semester following the candidate’s second semester or teaching session whether or not the candidate has completed final written examinations for his or her courses.

Candidates registered for the Postgraduate Diploma in Legislative Drafting will be awarded the diploma on successful completion of the core course in Legislative Drafting and any two other courses in the list of courses for the UWI LLM.

A candidate who has registered for the LLM in Legislative Drafting but only completes the core course in Legislative Drafting and any two other courses in the list of courses for the UWI LLM will be awarded the Postgraduate Diploma in Legislative Drafting.

Students must apply for approval to register in Law 6900 Research Paper or Law 6910 Supervised Legislative Drafting Internship before the end of the second semester or teaching session from the commencement of the program by the student.

 

 

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