Shortage of Legal Drafters Causing Delays

Magali Marin-Young

While the salaries of public servants will be fixed, the Office of the Attorney General is facing a shortage of legal drafters.  Currently, the office has only two, so outsourcing legal drafters is an option the AG Ministry is exploring.

Magali Marin-Young, Attorney General

“I don’t know if it is being lost on the Media, several good governance measures have in fact been enacted. Recently with the pact, the standing orders were amended to allow for a joint committee where the social partners were included. So, that is one measure. The other one is we have sought to impose time limits of the delivery of judgment. That is good governance measure. We have also tabled a Public Contracts Commission Bill – that is another good governance measure. So it is not for want of, it is a priority; we have to get it right.  It is just a matter of being under staffed, under strain. But I can also tell you that good governance legislation are complex pieces of legislation. For example the civil assets recovery bill involves the setting up of a civil asset recovery unit. And we will have to find the public finances to set up that unit to be able to go after any proceeds of crime, etc.”

Reporter

“In terms of commitment to your unit, and increasing the number of legal drafters, do you see that commitment under the budget that is being presented now?”

Magali Marin-Young

“I can tell you that since taking office, because legal drafting is not a skill you develop overnight. It is a specialized training that somebody undergoes and gets a master’s in legal drafting. So, it is not a skill that overnight I can develop in the Unit. So I have approached various governments. I have approached the U.S. government. I have approached the High Commission of India when he visited Belize, to see if we could get legal drafters from that jurisdiction to assist us. So, we are trying.”