Programme

Day 1 - Wednesday 24 May

09:00 - 09:45

Registration and refreshments

09:45

Opening remarks - Andy Beattie, President, Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsel

Croeso i Gymru - Mick Antoniw MS, Counsel General for Wales and Minister for the Constitution, Welsh Government

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Canon to confusion: what has happened to the law? Reflections on the statute book, the legal response to the pandemic and the rule of law - Dylan Hughes, First Legislative Counsel, Wales

Locating parliamentary counsel as constitutional actors: the importance of infrastructure - Garrett Sammon, Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, Ireland

11:00

Conference photo followed by refreshments

11:45

CALC’s 40th anniversary Q&A - Dame Brenda King, Attorney General for Northern Ireland, former CALC President, in conversation with Annalee Murphy, Parliamentary Counsel Office, Scotland and CALC Council Treasurer

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Law and sovereignty: questions of definition - Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dr Rowan Williams - Co-Chair of the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales, former Archbishop of Wales and Archbishop of Canterbury

13:00

Lunch for all

Stadium tour (Group 1)

14:00

Legislative drafting workshop - Dr James George and Natalie Lancey, Office of the Legislative Counsel, Wales

15:00

Refreshments

15:30

Break out 1

Bilingual drafting in New Brunswick - Elena Bosi, Chief Legislative Counsel, New Brunswick

Bilingual drafting in Wales - Nia Evans, Dewi Jones, Office of the Legislative Counsel, Wales and Llinos Pierce Williams, Legislative Translation Unit, Wales

Revising Legislation in Welsh and English - Matthew Bell, Clare Allison, The National Archives, UK and Llion Hughes, Office of the Legislative Counsel, Wales

Break out 2

The Regulatory Institute and its model law on internet relationships and virtual worlds - Manfred Kohler, Founder, The Regulatory Institute and independent consultant for law making and regulation

The Online Safety Bill - an overview - Neil Shah, Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, UK

Breakout 3

The three layer approach to legislation –environmental licensing simplification Sónia Rodrigues, João Tiago Silveira and Gonçalo Carrilho, Observatório da Legislação Portuguesa

Reform of plant-related legislation in developing Commonwealth jurisdictions - Robert Black and John Moloney

16:30

Jersey LDO’s computer-readable legislation project and current happenings in Rules as Code - Matthew Waddington, Legislative Drafting Office, Jersey

Workshop on the basics of formal logic as it relates to legislation - Zoë Rillstone, Legislative Drafting Office, Jersey

17:30 - Depart Principality Stadium

Day 2 - Thursday 25 May

09:00 - 09:30

Registration and refreshments

09:30

Reflections on drafting legislation on coercive control in Scotland, Northern Ireland and New South Wales - Alex Gordon, First Legislative Counsel, Northern Ireland and Annette O’Callaghan, Parliamentary Counsel, New South Wales

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Teaching and assessing legislative drafting in an undergraduate LLB: the Edinburgh experience - Scott Wortley, University of Edinburgh

Developing drafters: reflections from workshops with students and professionals in Edinburgh - Fraser Gough, , Parliamentary Counsel, Scotland

Mentoring junior drafters: what is the best way to do it and what skills are required? - Dr Maria Mousmouti, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (University of London)

CALC mentoring - Andy Beattie, CALC President

11:15

Refreshments

11:45

Break out 1

Drafting in the Qatar Financial Centre – A jurisdiction within a jurisdiction - Terry Kowal, Legislative Counsel for the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority

Legislative Drafting in Namibia - Felicity !Owoses, Chief Parliamentary Counsel, Namibia and CALC Council Member

A Guide to Comprehensive Tobacco Control Legislation - Kritika Khanijo, World Health Organisation

Break out 2

Preparing, drafting and enacting Private Members' Bills - Dr Ronan Cormacain, Consultant Legislative Counsel

The challenges of Private Members’ Bills – recent experience of the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel to the Government in Ireland - Pippa Matthews, Office of the Legislative Counsel, Ireland

Breakout 3

Royal Assent to Bailiwick of Guernsey primary legislation - Simon Hodgett, Crown Advocate, Guernsey

Royal Assent - thoughts from Jersey and the Isle of Man - Lucy Marsh-Smith, Principal Legislative drafter, Jersey and formerly Chief Legislative Drafter, Isle of Man and Eloise Layzell, Legislative Drafting Office, Jersey

12:45

Lunch for all

Stadium tour (Group 2)

13:45

Legislative drafting for a multi-lingual,multi-cultural environment where policy or political compromise is always just around the corner: some reflections on the EU legislative process - Eleanor Sharpston KC, former Advocate General at the Court of Justice of the European Union

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Clarity in legislative drafting - some thoughts - Diggory Bailey and Luke Norbury, Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, UK

Clarity: the cost of its absence - Ian Davis, Legislative Counsel, Guernsey

Clarity of Law - Rui Lanceiro, Faculty of Law, University of Lisbon

15:15

Break with refreshments

15:45

Top tips from Drafters

Compere: Alex Gordon, First Legislative Counsel, Northern Ireland

Panel: Huw Davies, Office of the Legislative Counsel, Wales; Margaret Kelleher, Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, Ireland; Phil Chessum, Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, UK

16:45

Commonwealth Secretariat work to strengthen legislative drafting capacity in small Commonwealth countries - Segametsi Mothibatsela, , Commonwealth Secretariat

CALC Africa Regional Conference, Kenya 2023 - Dr Johnson Okello, CALC Council Africa Representative

CALC Conference and General Meeting, Caribbean 2024 - Michelle Daley, CALC Vice-President

Closing Remarks - Andy Beattie, CALC President

17:30

Drinks reception

#CALCEurope