BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

LAW drafters are getting training to improve their role in interpreting and transforming government policies into effective legislation.

During the opening of a legislative drafting course yesterday, Solicitor-General Naimah Md Ali said well-drafted and high quality legislation are the result of collaboration and understanding of authorities and law drafters. She said practical considerations should be addressed in the policy and legislative drafting process.

It is imperative that authorities ensure the necessary logistics are well thought out, in particular capacity building and availability of resources, she said, adding that this would allow effective enforcement of the laws.

”The Attorney General’s Chambers will, however, provide guidance on legal advice to support the instructing authorities in exercising their powers and performing their duties as conferred by their respective laws,” the solicitor-general added.

She further said even though legislation and the legal regulatory framework may seem to be a “must-have”, their effectiveness lies in the execution.

Naimah also mentioned that a workshop on translation will be held next week by a Malaysian expert to improve the translation of legal documents.

Officers from the Attorney General’s Chambers of Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore are attending the three-day legislative drafting course.

Leading the course is Professor Van den Bergh, an internationally recognised expert trainer in legislative drafting.

It also saw the participation of representatives from the Islamic Legal Unit, Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam, Authority for Info-communications Technology Industry of Brunei Darussalam and Universiti Brunei Darussalam.

The Brunei Times