Memoirs of a Caribbean Lawyer by Lewis Stephenson Hunte QC

Author:Lewis Stephenson Hunte QC
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BookBaby
Published: 2018-12-12T17:27:11+00:00

X.

THE MAKING OF

A LEGISLATIVE DRAFTSMAN

In November 1972, I was transferred from the Magistracy to the Attorney General’s Chambers to take up the post of Parliamentary Counsel. A week before I was due to report for duty, I paid a visit to the Attorney General’s Chambers and introduced myself to the Chief Parliamentary Counsel, Mr. John Husbands (now the late late Mr.Justice John Husbands), who in turn introduced me to his Deputy, Miss Yolande Bannister (later Yolande Bannister, QC), the other Parliamentary Counsel, and the support staff.

The Chief Parliamentary Counsel gave me a copy of the Constitution and of the Interpretation Act. He told me to read the Interpretation Act every Friday afternoon, as it was necessary for a draftsman to be very familiar with it. That meant that on my first working day in the drafting section of the Attorney General’s Chambers, I was not a total stranger to anyone in the Chambers.

I found the Chief Parliamentary Counsel and his Deputy very helpful, as they taught me the fundamentals of legislative drafting. I will never forget their patience with a novice.

The Chief Parliamentary Counsel was a classical scholar. Before becoming a lawyer, he had obtained a degree in the classics at Codrington College when it was an external college of the University of Durham. He was also chain smoker who could not exist without his cigarettes. One could smell the smoke from his room as one passed by the door. Inside, the room was permanently hazy from the smoke.

Most members of the staff, especially the women, tried to avoid going into his room unless it was absolutely necessary. They detested the smell of cigarette smoke that lingered on their clothing long after they left his room which was airconditioned. No one seemed to know about secondary smoke in those days. At least, no one talked about it.

John had developed what was known as a ‘smoker’s cough’ and one always knew from the sound of that cough when he was in the vicinity. It was his smoking that most likely accounted for his death later on.

The Deputy Chief Parliamentary Counsel was a pleasant lady who was always ready to share her knowledge. She took pleasure in doing so and it was difficult to find a more congenial colleague. I often wondered if she ever lost her temper.

One of the fundamentals of legislative drafting is to be able to construct a grammatical sentence and express oneself in clear, unambiguous language. In other words, no one should have to read a sentence twice in order to understand what it means. Decide for yourselves whether it is necessary to read the following definition, taken from the Nuts (Amendment) Order from Kenya, more than once in order to understand what it means:

In the Nuts (unground) (other than ground nuts) Order, the expression ‘Nuts’ shall have reference to such nuts, other than groundnuts as would, but for this amending Order, not qualify as Nuts (unground) (other than groundnuts) by reason of they being nuts (unground).

I will always remember the first bill I drafted on my own from start to finish.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.