Contents of Legislation
This Article describes , How to Draft a legislation.
Bills and Statutory instruments (subsidiary legislation) are drafted in response to the requirements of a government department. There are some bills which are simple and can be drafted in a very short time on the other hand there are bills which involve major legislative areas and take months or even years to draft.
Here is a classification of contents commonly found in Indian Legislations.
1. Object and Reason Clause.
This clause specifies the basic purpose behind the enactment of the legislature. In case laws while applying the ‘golden rule’ or the ‘mischief’ rule of interpretation of statues, the object & reason clause is a veritable goldmine of knowledge. It specifies the need and importance for and the goals to be achieved through the enactment of the legislature. It embodies the intention of the legislator while framing the legislation, and thus aids in interpretation in case of any ambiguity.
It is a clause, the reading of which, gives one a general idea of what a piece of legislation intends to achieve. It specifies the objectives and the reasons behind those objectives.
2. Short Title
It is the formal name given to a legislation.
e. g . “The Advocates Act, 1961”
Its ideally suggestive of the contents and the area the legislation deals with.
“Short titles are generally made up of just a few words that describe in broad terms the area of law being changed or the thing affected, followed by the word “Act” and then the year in which the legislation is formally enacted.”
– From Wikipedia
Draft legislation (bills) also uses short titles, but substitutes the word “Bill” for “Act”.
3. No. of Act
“(Act no. 25 of 1961)” as stated in “The Advocates Act, 1961 “means that The Advocates Act was 25th act to be passed in the year 1961.
Note:- The year of enactment is, at times, also mentioned in the Long Title.
4. Sources of Legislation
The acts, taking cognizance of which, the legislation has been passed.
In normal terms source of legislation means the relevant authority which inspired the drafting of the act.
e.g.
Source of Legislation for The Advocates Act, 1961
“ The Legal Practitioners Act, 1879 (18 of 1879), the Bombay Pleaders Act, 1920 (17 of 1920) and the Indian Bar Councils Act, 1926 (38 of 1926) “
Thus a legislation may be drafted integrating different legislations on that topic, or may be passed to ratify an international convention, or as a result of recommendations from the Law Commission, eminent jurists and scholars, case laws or through public opinion.
5. Preamble
The preamble highlights the purpose, object and intent of the Act. It is an important tool of interpretation, and has been called the “key to the mind of the legislator”. These days a preamble is generally omitted, but it has been recommended for
a) Legislations with constitutional importance i.e. when the subject matter is constitutional in nature.
b) Legislations ratifying an international convention.
c) Legislations where local or customary laws have been given preference.
6. Long Title
A long title defines the purpose, and the main principle of the legislation in a single line. It gives a bird’s eye view of the subject matter of the legislation.
e.g
As mentioned in Advocates Act
“An act to amend and conslidate the law relating to legal practitioner and to provide for the constitution of Bar Councils and an All India Bar.”
7. Extent Clause
It specifies the territorial mandate of the legislation concerned, For example the Indian Contract Act is applicable to the whole of India except the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Different legislatures have different extent clauses depending upon their nature and objectives.
8. Application Clause
This clause answers the question ‘To whom it may apply’. For example in the Hindu marriage Act the word ‘Hindu’ applies to ‘Jains’, ‘Buddhists’ and ‘Sikhs’ as well.
9. Commencement Clause
It specifies on what date and how the Act comes into effect.
a. Indicate Effect
Indicates that the act shall come into force when it receives assent of the authority, the President.
b. On a particular date
When the legislators have premeditated the date for the commencement of the legislation, they indicate the same in the commencement clause.
c. By a notification
In many cases it is mentioned that the Act will become operative from the day it is notified in the Official Gazette.
10. Definition Clause
It defines the terms used commonly throughout the legislature and also specifies the extent to which people or acts come under the ambit of a particular definition. It either restricts or enlarges the literal meaning of a word to suit the purpose of the act, normally in general cases section 2 or 3 of legislatures contain the definition clause.
11. Substantive Clause
It is the main body of the legislation. The bulk of the operational clauses of the act are contained in it.
12. Miscellaneous Clauses
The above clauses are an essential part of all the legislations in general, but there are certain clauses which serve a specific purpose and may not be applicable to all legislations. Some of them are as follows:
a. Non Obstante Clause:
Sometimes it becomes necessary to provide that a particular Act should operate notwithstanding anything contained in any other law which is contrary to the provisions of this Act. In other words, in cases where it is not possible to examine all relevant laws to decide which provision should be overruled and to what extent, the convenient device is adopted whereby the particular law is given overriding effect.
e.g
The Advocates Act, 1961
“58AG. [(Note:- Section 58AG ins. by Act 38 of 1977, sec.7) Special provisions in relation to article clerks- Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, every person who immediately before the 31st day of December, 1976 has commenced his articleship and passed the Preliminary examination, for the purpose of enrolment as an attorney of the High Court at Calcutta in accordance with rules made under sub section (2) of section 34………..”
b. Protection of Action taken in good faith:
This clause gives protection to authorities during the course of performance of their duties.
e.g
Protection given to police while they are on duty.
c. Rule making power clause:
It delegates authority to executive body, already existing or which is established by the Act, the power to form certain rules regarding procedure and function of the body in the jurisdiction of the body, to carry out the mandate given in the Act.
e.g
Under RTI Central Information Commission has been formed and given certain rule making powers.
d. Saving Clause:
This clause states that the present legislation is not in derogation i.e. doesn’t override or overrule past legislations, it merely supplements them.
- Piyush Raj Verma