Answer for Oral Question PL010

QUESTION

Yang Berhormat Dayang Hajah Safiah binti Sheikh Haji Abd. Salam

YANG BERHORMAT DAYANG HAJAH SAFIAH BINTI SHEIKH HAJI ABD. SALAM requested the MENTERI DI JABATAN PERDANA MENTERI to state the main challenges in the process of reviewing and drafting important Acts and the initiatives of the Attorney General’s Chambers in expediting this review and drafting process. Are there any plans for improvement, such as utilising law graduates through a project-based apprenticeship scheme?

ANSWER

Yang Berhormat Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri

1. Main Challenges

The drafting process is highly dependent on complete, accurate and consistent policy information from focal officers of Ministries / Departments / statutory bodies.

In carrying out this work, legislative drafting officers work closely with focal officers in Ministries, Government Departments and statutory bodies to obtain complete, accurate and consistent policy information for the purpose of drafting and reviewing legislation in accordance with the objectives of Government policy, examination of existing legislation and thorough legal analysis.

However, in certain circumstances, the drafting instructions received still require further clarification or refinement. Therefore, drafting officers need to conduct additional examination to elaborate on the policy intent and carry out further research, which may subsequently affect the time required to prepare legislative drafts.

As an indication of performance, in 2025 the Legislative Drafting Division received 305 drafts for processing; 176 drafts were successfully completed in the same year, while 67 drafts remained outstanding at the end of the year. Cumulatively, 238 out of 305 drafts had been completed, representing approximately 78%, despite having only 12 legislative drafting officers who, at the same time, also continuously carried out legislative review duties, including compiling and updating laws that had been gazetted into the Laws of Brunei.

2. Initiatives to Expedite the Process — Draft Legislation Database (DLD) & Legislation Electronic Drafting & Online (LEDO)

The Attorney General’s Chambers upholds the principle that legislative drafting is a collaborative process between the Attorney General’s Chambers and the Ministries, to ensure that the legislation drafted is comprehensive, clear and aligned with the interests of the Nation, without compromising quality.

To strengthen collaboration and monitor staff status in a more organised manner, the Attorney General’s Chambers, in collaboration with the Prime Minister’s Office, has developed the Draft Legislation Database (DLD), an organised and systematic centralised database for monitoring the latest status of each draft. Access by focal officers enables follow-up action to be taken more transparently and efficiently by both parties.

To improve efficiency, improvements are also focused on:

1. Specialised training and continuous professional development in policy analysis, legal language and legislative design;

2. Strengthening early coordination with Ministries / Departments / statutory bodies so that policies are clearly understood before drafting commences; and

3. Providing standardised drafting templates and streamlining the internal review process so that drafting work becomes more consistent and expeditious.

In addition, the Attorney General’s Chambers will implement the Legislation Electronic Drafting & Online (LEDO) Project as a legal technology initiative to assist in the preparation and handling of legislative drafting and review work more efficiently. Alhamdulillah, this project has been approved for system procurement and is currently undergoing the subsequent process in accordance with the applicable ICT project management guidelines.

3. “Apprenticeship Scheme” on a “Project-Based” Basis

Regarding the proposal, the Attorney General’s Chambers emphasises that legislative drafting is a professional field requiring specialised training and extensive, in-depth work experience. However, the Attorney General’s Chambers does recruit law graduates from time to time according to service requirements, who are placed in other Divisions. This is one of the important improvement efforts to strengthen human resources and enhance the Chambers’ capacity to carry out its legal work.