Legislative & regulatory drafting · 02
Regulatory framework review
A structured review of an existing framework: map what exists, gather the evidence, check the mandate, consider the options, consult properly, draft with transitions and publish, then review the…
A structured review of an existing framework: map what exists, gather the evidence, check the mandate, consider the options, consult properly, draft with transitions and publish, then review the review. Delivered with the record a council needs to show it applied its mind.
Councils and professional bodies whose rules have aged out — routine condonations, obsolete references, scope of practice that no longer matches how the profession is taught.
“No change” is a legitimate outcome — recorded, it is evidence the council applied its mind. An unrecorded decision not to change is indistinguishable from neglect.
The law it sits under
The framework this work answers to.
A review measures an existing framework against four things: the empowering Act as it now reads, the Constitution, the consultation the Act requires, and the framework’s own internal consistency. Section 195 of the Constitution sets the values public administration is held to; PAJA governs the process where a rule affects the public. Frameworks age in a particular way — the enabling Act is amended, the rules are not, and the gap between them is where every dispute starts.
How the engagement runs
What you are committing to.
A structured review in six steps: map what exists, including the instruments nobody has looked at in years; gather the evidence of how the framework is actually used, which is rarely how it reads; check the mandate provision by provision; set out the options with their consequences rather than a single recommendation; consult properly where consultation is required; and draft the replacement with transitional provisions. The deliverable is a review report a council can adopt by resolution, not a consultant’s opinion.
A framework rarely needs replacing wholesale. Most of the risk sits in three or four provisions, and the discipline is identifying which — because a wholesale rewrite triggers a fresh consultation process and a fresh opportunity to be reviewed.
Related pages, tools and documents
The self-checks and working documents below are free, need no email address, and are the quickest way to judge the work before commissioning any of it.
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