Drafting, Interpreting, and Applying Legislation: (Understanding Canada)

About the Book

John Mark Keyes and Wendy Gordon have charted here a complete life cycle of legislation. Drafting, Interpreting, and Applying Legislation begins by discussing what legislation is and what it does, as well as the purposes for which it is used. This informative book then addresses the drafting of legislative texts and the processes for transforming them into law. It goes on to explain how legislation is found, understood, and applied, including the interpretive principles and techniques for resolving disputes about its meaning and application. Among the works dealing with the Canadian system of written laws, it is one of the most comprehensive in scope, encompassing both how legislation is made and how it is interpreted and applied. 

Table of Contents:
Foreword Introduction Part One: Drafting and Enacting Legislation Chapter One: What Is Drafting? Chapter Two: How Is Legislation Drafted? Chapter Three: How Is Draft Legislation Turned Into Law? Part Two: Interpreting and Applying Legislation Chapter Four: What Is Legislation Used For? Chapter Five: How Is Legislation Understood and Applied? Chapter Six: Legislative Text Chapter Seven: Purposes Chapter Eight: Context Chapter Nine: Application Annex 1: The Uniform Law Conference of Canada Drafting Conventions Annex 2: The Uniform Law Conference of Canada Model Interpretation Act Notes Useful Websites Index About the Authors About the Editor

About the Author :
John Mark Keyes is a sessional professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa, and an instructor in the Legislative Drafting Program of Athabasca University. He has an LLB from the University of Toronto and a Diploma in Legislative Drafting and an LLM from the University of Ottawa. Professor Keyes was previously legislative counsel in the Department of Justice (Canada) drafting regulations and government bills. He later occupied various managerial positions and was the Chief Legislative Counsel from 2005 until 2013. He has also written many academic articles and a monograph, Executive Legislation, the third edition of which was published by Lexis Nexis in 2021. Wendy Gordon holds a BA Hons in English literature from Western University and an LLB from Queen's University. She was called to the Ontario Bar in 1987. Wendy was legislative counsel at the Department of Justice for nineteen years and at the House of Commons in the Office of the Law Clerk for ten years, culminating in the position of Deputy Law Clerk, Legislation Services. As legislative counsel, Wendy advised on complex federal statutes and regulations, drafted bills and amendments for Members of Parliament, and provided advice on diverse legislative matters falling under federal jurisdiction. Wendy developed and piloted plain language regulatory initiatives at the Department of Justice, developed and taught courses at the Canada School of Public Service, and has been a frequent guest lecturer at the law schools of McGill University and the University of Ottawa. Wendy is a member of the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice and the Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsel (CALC). Within CALC, Wendy held the position of regional representative for the Americas and is on the editorial board of The Loophole, the CALC journal about the preparation and enactment of legislation. Gregory Tardi, BCL, LLB, DJur, is a member of the Québec Bar. He has served as legal counsel for Elections Canada and senior parliamentary counsel at the House of Commons.