Reference: PG/CAR/0570
Location: Georgetown, Guyana
Duration: 2 years
Closing Date: 21 May 2012
Project Background
National drafting offices in the Caribbean, particularly in small states, have very limited capacity to deal with the volume of legislation that is required. Many offices are limited to just one full time drafter and therefore require both skills development and direct assistance in dealing with the volume of work. Other larger offices also have capacity issues due to the relatively high turnover of staff.
Demand from Attorneys General in the Caribbean region for the services of the legislative drafters is therefore increasing, particularly in the smaller states. This has been repeatedly articulated during regional meetings of the CARICOM Legal Affairs Committee and the Law Minister’s meetings.
Purpose of the project
This project will enable the Office of the General Counsel at the CARICOM Secretariat to be able to respond effectively to the legislative drafting needs of the whole region through the provision of direct assistance to small states. CFTC drafters will be able to respond quickly and cost effectively to requirements through a combination of face-to-face meetings and remote communications.
Project Outcome
Small states’ drafting offices will be better able to meet the legislative requirements of government both in terms of national legislation and compliance with international treaty obligations, particularly the Treaty of Chaguaramas and the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME).
Scope of Work
The project will provide three legislative drafting experts to the CARICOM Secretariat in Georgetown, Guyana for a period of two years.
The services provided by the expert under this project will be available to all 12 Commonwealth Caribbean countries (subject to Abuja Guidelines terms), plus the 6 dependent territories. However, priority will be placed on small and lower income countries/territories.
Expected Activities to include:
- Provide direct assistance to legal drafting offices in commonwealth Caribbean countries to draft national legislation either emanating from treaty obligations or domestic policy initiatives
- Provide assistance to CARICOM secretariat in the drafting of community level legislation as required and agreed under the treaty of Chaguaramas.
- Provide a combination of on-the-job and remote mentoring to staff of legal drafting offices in the commonwealth Caribbean in order to improve technical skills in legal drafting.
- Provide mentoring and guidance to drafting staff within the Office of the General Counsel at the CARICOM secretariat.
- Act as tutors for the nominated drafters under the online scholarship scheme.
Expected outputs will be:
- Key national legislation produced
- Treaty obligations translated into appropriate model laws and national CSME legislation
- 9 drafters tutored and mentored on legal drafting course at Athabasca University Improved general drafting skills of drafting office staff throughout the Commonwealth Caribbean
Implementation Arrangements
The experts will work closely with Commonwealth Secretariat Advisers in delivering this technical assistance. Day-to-day management of the experts will be undertaken by the CARICOM General Counsel who will discuss requests, agree priorities and set work programmes for each expert on a yearly basis. Experts will be required to submit six monthly reports, endorsed by the General Counsel, to the CFTC project manager.
Person Specification
The expert should have:
- A law degree or other relevant qualification,
At least 10 years experience in legislative drafting acquired within commonwealth jurisdictions, particularly in drafting constitutional reform and/or amendments. - Experience in providing professional advice concerning legislative drafting on trade, public finance or other public law issues, at a senior level.
- Strong communication, writing and IT skills.
- Ability to establish priorities and to plan, coordinate and monitor work.
- Good inter-personal skills, ability to work in a consultative and collaborative manner.
- Ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships and working relationships in a political environment.
- Demonstrated leadership in drafting matters.
Download the Terms of Reference
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