Ministry of Justice

Legislative Drafting Process Guide

 

Choose the stage of process

Enforcement

Enforcement refers to the measures of government by which Acts are applied and put into practice. The ministry responsible for the drafting of the Act usually prepares an implementation plan during the principal preparation step in cooperation with the authorities responsible for implementation. Such authorities may include the agencies under the ministries, regional and local government, and the courts.

Factors which promote successful enforcement from the viewpoint of the authorities responsible for implementation include:

  • sufficient human resources, expertise, tools and other required resources,
  • effective and efficient cooperation with other authorities tasked with the same duties,
  • support and guidance from higher authorities without excessive interference in details or matters within the scope of competence of lower authorities, and
  • consultation during drafting of stakeholders affected by the legislation.

Tools available to the ministry responsible for drafting to support enforcement include the following:

  • decrees and regulations,
  • guidelines and recommendations,
  • communication and media relations,
  • training and counselling, and
  • incentives such as recognitions or rewards for good performance.
Text version ›

Monitoring

The implementation and impacts of legislation are monitored since entry into force. The aim of monitoring is to evaluate the effectiveness of the legislation and any needs for its amendment. In the longer term, the data accumulated as part of the monitoring process serves as a basis for future legislative reform undertakings.

Legislation is monitored by the drafting ministry. The monitoring approach, laying out the areas of emphasis and required resources, is designed during preparation and briefly described in the rationale of the Government bill. Proper advance planning of the monitoring approach also helps determine the manners in which the impacts of the legislation are to be perceived in practice.

 

 

Monitoring tools include:

  • studies and reports,
  • statistics,
  • court decisions,
  • decisions and policies of administrative authorities,
  • consultations and discussions, and
  • surveys and other means of gathering feedback.

Monitoring of the implementation and impacts of legislation may be deemed to be adequate when it satisfies the following requirements:

  • systematic, timely and sufficiently comprehensive approach
  • findings compared to the objectives of the legislation and to the impacts envisioned during preparation, and
  • tools, methods and findings recorded in a manner allowing easy future reference.