Writing the Law: A Career in Legislative Drafting
In this episode we speak with Roy Lee, a Legislative Counsel at the Law Officers of the Crown, Guernsey, who has worked across the world in many jurisdictions, consulting to governments for over 25 years to draft legislation in a range of areas. Roy explains how his formative years led him to become passionate about Human Rights and Governance issues, and why the law became his chosen career, after exploring pathways in journalism.
Also, Roy explains his career choices, and how early experience in legal publishing led on to a career in “writing the law”, working with many different governments around the world, from New Zealand and Pacific States, to Guernsey. Key skills for this career path are highlighted by Roy, including curiosity and an interest in a broad range of legal practice areas from transactional work to litigation.
We also discuss how those drafting the law work with government teams to co-create legislation and how it is updated through time.
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ACTION FOR LISTENERS
Look at the Government’s webpages about Legislative drafting to understand more: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/office-of-the-parliamentary-counsel/about/recruitment
Also see the case studies from people who have taken up this career path: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/working-for-the-office-of-the-parliamentary-counsel