Law Drafting and Regulatory Management in Central and Eastern Europe

This SIGMA publication is made up of a general report, six country reports and several appendices, such as relevant regulations and the OECD checklist for regulatory decision–making. The general report on law drafting and regulatory management is designed as a hands-on tool for policymakers and law drafting personnel. It points out crucial issues for improving law drafting through creating and enforcing an adequate institutional framework, improving policy development, setting and maintaining law drafting standards, making fuller use of consultation, and improving access to legislation. This report also explains how procedures and standards should be applied to parliamentary initiatives and secondary legislation, as well as discussing the training of law drafters. The country reports offer a full account of law drafting regulations and drafting practice in Albania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia. While reforming regulatory programmes in any democracy is a major endeavour replete with potential pitfalls, central and eastern European countries confront even greater challenges in this area. They must build up regulatory frameworks for economic and political conditions radically different than those which existed just a few years before. In particular, these countries must align their regulatory practices with those of the European Union. This implies the creation of new institutions, and control and monitoring systems.