Democracy International (DI) is seeking to hire a Legislative Drafting Expert consultant for the Support for the Reform and Strengthening of Governance in Lesotho Project. The Government of the Kingdom of Lesotho signed a Financing Agreement with the European Commission on 8th September 2020 to implement a program titled “Support for the Reform and Strengthening of Governance in Lesotho” with financial support from the 11th European Development Fund (EDF). The program intends to support the supply and demand side of the justice and governance sectors, through the strengthening of the country’s institutional and legal frameworks. The program also intends to reinforce the capacity of justice sector actors to ensure improved service delivery, increasing the provision of legal assistance for people living in poverty and persons in vulnerable situations. On the demand side of governance, the program aims to empower the citizens to seek redress or remedial action once their rights have been violated and support the reforms and operational tasks of oversight institutions to play their meaningful role. The overall objective of the program is to foster rule of law, good governance, human rights, and gender equality in Lesotho.
The Government of the Kingdom of Lesotho is sustaining its resolve to adopt and implement national reforms that are intended to promote long-term national stability, unity, and reconciliation; creation of professional, well-functioning and effective institutions for the efficient management of public affairs, service delivery and development; and building a national consensus on implementation of constitutional changes as needed. A crucial pursuit of the Government in the context of the reforms is to ensure that the Bosotho, especially the vulnerable and marginalized groups, have access to quality justice and that oversight institutions discharge their constitutional mandates effectively with the ultimate goal of contributing to the development of the country. The proposed reforms were agreed upon through a highly consultative process involving key stakeholders and are packaged in one Constitutional Amendment Bill which is called the Omnibus Bill.
Given the mandate of the Office of Parliamentary Counsel and the fact that the Omnibus bill is under consideration for enactment by Parliament, the capacity of the Legislative drafters needs to be enhanced for them to effectively draft new implementing legislation that will be triggered by the enactment on the Omnibus Bill. To facilitate speedy enactment of the proposed reforms, the Government of the Kingdom of Lesotho has split the Bill into three: a Bill requiring-
- Simply majority; and
- Two thirds majority of members of parliament at the final stage of voting, and
- A referendum.
Further to the above, the need for skilled legislative drafters cannot be overemphasized. There are novel challenges such as the development of new industries, combating globalization and regional economic complications, as well as cross-border and immigration conflicts and new emerging offences like money- laundering, terrorist financing and terrorism. All of these
problems call for enactment of new laws and legislative drafters can only address them if they possess and are equipped with the necessary legislative drafting skill.
Currently, the newly recruited drafters only receive on the job training, mentorship and an apprenticeship type of training from senior drafters within the office, who are also wanting with keeping abreast with the new drafting principles since this is an ever evolving skill and have pressing demands on their own individual assignments with to lack of a clearly defined government legislative program.
The Program Coordination Unit therefore seeks services of a seasoned trainer in legislative drafting to facilitate training to all legislative drafters from the OPC. The training will take place in Maseru, Lesotho preferably in three phases from basic training to advanced training.
The Consultant shall report to the Team Leader of the Technical Assistance and the Office of Parliamentary Counsel working in close coordination, at all times, with Heads of other divisions at the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel. This consultancy’s Level of Effort (LOE) will be up to 20 days from approximately July to December 2024.
Objectives of the Assignment:
The assignment is intended to achieve the following specific objectives:
- To train drafters how to turn a policy idea into legislation that is clear, concise and legally effective, through building and strengthening legislative drafting skills of the drafters in the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel.
- To impart training skills to ensure continued and sustained on the job training for the drafters .
- .To introduce legislative drafters to contemporary legal drafting conventions, techniques, ethics, considerations, best practices in legislative drafting and ability to assess known as Regulatory Impact Assessment.
- To enhance understanding of the legislative enactment and public administration processes, policy development and analysis, development of a legislative program, drafting instructions, as well as the delegation of legislative authority and their implications on legal drafting in the context of law reform.
- To enhance skills on the management of the Office of Parliamentary Counsel in relation to the core mandate which is drafting legislation for the country.
Essential Job Duties:
Working in collaboration with the PCU, the Judiciary and the Reference Group, the Expert will:
- Review project documents and relevant legislation related to legislative drafting in Lesotho, including the Training and Equipment Needs Assessment report developed under the Short-Term Expert Facility of the program.
- Develop training modules and manuals in Legislative Drafting for the OPC.
- Develop a training program and coordinate with the PCU and OPC in organizing the training.
- Facilitate training in Legislative Drafting using appropriate approaches and methods.
- Obtain feedback on the relevance of the training.
- Submit a report to the PCU on the training program with recommendations for future consideration.
Deliverables:
- Reviewed Project Documents and Acts:
- The Constitution of the Kingdom of Lesotho,
- The Interpretation Act,
- Financing Agreement (signed by the Government and the European Union),
- Training and Equipment Needs Assessment Report,
- Legislative Handbook and Legislative Manual for the OPC,
- Program Estimate etc.
- Facilitation Training Materials or Manuals in Legislative Drafting.
- Training in Legislative Drafting facilitated.
- Feedback and Evaluation of the Training conducted.
- Final Report with Recommendations submitted to the PCU and OPC.
Qualifications:
- Master’s degree in law from a recognized institution of higher learning with 8 years of post-qualification experience. In the absence of a Master’s degree, a Bachelor’s degree but with 10 years of experience in Legislative drafting.
- Strong analytical skills and ability to synthesize relevant information on public policies, drafting instructions, legal reforms and legislative drafting techniques.
- Understanding of grammar and syntax.
- Excellent verbal and written communication and presentation skills.
General Professional Experience
- At least eight (8) years’ experience in, good governance, along with, the wider Justice and Rule of Law sector.
- At least eight (8) years’ working experience in legislative drafting aimed at transitioning public policies into legislative bills.
- Proven knowledge, understanding and experience in processing of public policies.
- Experience in capacity building for public institutions would be an added advantage.
- Knowledge of constitutional law, statutory law, public administration, human rights and other relevant legal areas.
- Knowledge of Parliamentary procedures.
Specific Professional Experience
- Proven experience in conducting training in legislative drafting.
- Proven experience in drafting a wide range of bills emanating from policies and/or instructions from sector institutions.
- Good knowledge of politics, sociology, and time management.
- Familiarity with relevant treaties and conventions.
- Exposure to law reform work, as well as Constitutional Reforms and policy development.
- Proven experience in coordinating with Ministries, Departments and Agencies on drafting instructions and legislative bills in the public sector context.
Reporting:
- This position reports to the Deputy Director, Program Management – Africa and LAC
Application Process:
Interested applicants MUST submit a cover letter and CV. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and the position will be filled as soon as a qualified candidate is identified. DI will only contact candidates of interest.
About the Organization:
DI provides technical assistance, analytical services and project implementation for democracy, human rights, governance and conflict mitigation programs worldwide for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. State Department and other development partners. Since its founding in 2003, Democracy International has worked with civil society organizations, political parties, election-management bodies, government agencies, legislatures, justice-sector institutions, and others in 80+ countries.
DI welcomes and supports a diverse and inclusive work environment. We are committed to equal employment opportunities (EEO) for all applicants seeking employment and for DI employees. DI makes employment decisions based on organizational needs, job requirements and individual qualifications without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, personal appearance, military status, gender identity or expression, genetic information, political affiliation, educational status, unemployment status, place of residence or business, source of income, or reproductive health decision making. Additionally, harassment or discrimination based on these characteristics will not be tolerated at DI. To perform the essential functions of this position, reasonable accommodations are available to qualified individuals with disabilities.