This practical and career-enhancing course, presented by specialists in the field, provides people involved in the drafting of legislation with essential theoretical and practical knowledge and skills.
Legislative drafting is a field of law not dealt with extensively in an LLB, and is seldom explored in postgraduate studies. There is, however, a need to enhance the legislative drafting skills of an ever-growing body of senior, middle and even lower-level public officials engaged in the "business of legislation" in all spheres of government.
This course builds on our introductory short course on legislative drafting. It focuses more intensively on specific issues and problem-solving exercises. On completion, persons will have enhanced knowledge and skills to draft legislation efficiently, accurately and in compliance with legal requirements.
"The programme is well-structured and intellectually challenging, providing students the opportunity to develop the skills required for legislative drafting." - Peer review
We are proud to announce the launch of the book
Introduction to Legislative Drafting by our presenters Rassie Malherbe, Anton Meyer and Heinrich Muller - now available from Juta in hard copy and as an ebook
.
Please note that this book will be used as the
prescribed course material for UCT Law@work’s legislative drafting courses. Delegates are to
purchase the book via this link before the course commences.
Join us for a four-month course, comprising two remote workshops, five assignments and a written examination, all of which are compulsory.
When and where?
This course runs from July to October 2025, with the two compulsory remote workshops being held on the following days:
- Workshop 1: 7 to 10 July and 14 to 16 July (7 days), 8:30-12:00 SAST
- Workshop 2: 13 to 15 October (3 days), 8:30-12:00 SAST
Assignments must be submitted in the intervening period. The final written examination will be taken in November 2025.
The links for the remote workshops will be emailed to you a few days beforehand.
Course outline
The program consists of different modules which will be presented over the two separate remote workshops. Relevant case law is referred to in each module.
Module 1: Constitutional and legal framework, legislation as source of law, legislative procedures, from policy to law (influences on the origins and content of legislation)
Module 2: Drafting of a law, drafting principles, legislative sentences, language and grammar, style and techniques, structure of a law, substantial and other provisions
Module 3: Amending legislation, requirements, style and techniques
Module 4: Delegated legislation, legal requirements, drafting style and techniques
Who will benefit from this course?
The program is primarily aimed at persons in national, provincial and local government, as well as in parastatal bodies.
Presenters
Prof Rassie Malherbe is a retired professor of constitutional law from the University of Johannesburg. He has been teaching legislative drafting for 20 years, for the last three years at the University of Cape Town. During his academic career Prof Malherbe focused his research on constitutional law, education law, and specific human rights such as academic freedom, freedom of religion and education rights. He co-authored several textbooks and published more than 100 articles on these topics. He was closely involved in the constitution-making process of the nineties, and still advises government institutions on legislative and other issues.
Adv Anton Meyer SC had a long career in legislative drafting spanning over 40 years. He was a state law adviser in the Department of Justice for many years, and was the deputy chief state law adviser until he became the chief law adviser to parliament when the interim constitution came into effect in 1994. He served in this position until his retirement in 2002. He has been the co-presenter with Prof Malherbe of an extra-curricular program in legislative drafting at the University of Johannesburg since its inception in 2002. This programme was moved to the University of Cape Town three years ago.
Heinrich Muller is a qualified and experienced attorney of the High Court of South Africa and an environmental law specialist. Currently, he serves in the law reform unit at the national Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, in which capacity he has been the principal drafter of several key pieces of legislation. He has a vast amount of practical experience in the drafting of various forms of legislative instruments and managing their progress to final adoption, based on the ability to transform government policies into technically accurate and workable legislation. Heinrich is a member of the Council of the Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsel as the Africa Region Representative.
Prof Malherbe, Adv Meyer and Mr Muller co-authored a recently published textbook, Introduction to Legislative Drafting (Juta, Cape Town, 2024), which is the first textbook of its kind in South Africa suitable for teaching purposes.
How much?
R16,450 per person.
Certificate
A digital certificate of completion will be issued to those who pass the assessment.
How to sign up
Please note: Only 25 places are available. Payment confirms registration. Once the available places have been filled, additional registrations will be added to a waiting list.
Complete and submit the registration form. You will then be given the payment information. Please note that registrations will not be considered complete until payment has been made.
One or two days before the course, we will send you the Zoom link. You will need to register and use a password to enter the virtual classroom.
Registrations close three days before the course starts.
Download the brochure.
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